The Sealed Blade Of The Spiral Ninja
by Zekuran
Summary: A discovery when Naruto is ten sends him hurtling along a different path. Is the world ready to face Naruto when he is destined to be a legendary Shinobi? Naru/Anko and other pairings. Remeber to read and review, or I'll find you!
1. Tutoring

**I will not own Naruto for the entirety of this story. Afterwards, well, who knows? Tomorrows a new day, and you never know what will happen. **

'thoughts'

"speech"

"**Demon/Summons" **speech.

Well, without any further ado, lets get on with the fic!

**Story Begin**

Loneliness. To those who are surrounded by friends and family, they can never understand that pain. That was the pain felt every day by a ten year old boy named Naruto Uzumaki. He was sitting on the roof of a small apartment complex, watching those below him go about their lives. He looked at those who had friends, parents, even lovers, and he felt that always constant, aching pain in his heart worsen. He used to wonder what was wrong with him, that if he could just find out why everyone hated him, he'd be able to apologize, and everyone would love him. The night before had seen an answer, of sorts, to his question. He wished that he had never bothered to ask the question.

Flashback

_Naruto watched happily as his small mountain of ramen bowls was taken away. Ichiraku Ramen was always the best. One bowl was never enough to satisfy them. Hearing voices, he paused, and then paled as he recognized the voice of Councilman Sagashimi. Out of all those in the village, he was the most vocal in his hatred for Naruto. Naruto could truly do nothing right. It seemed as if his very existence was an affront to this man. There was another voice as well, and not wishing to be humiliated in front of Ayame and Tuechi, he paid for his food and left. He was creeping past the two men, Sagashimi and one other, when he heard his name mentioned. "I think it would be best if you warned your children to stay away from the brat, Naruto." Sagashimi whispered, his face twisting, as if Naruto's name had a revolting taste. _

_The man he was talking to looked confused. "Why? Tensu and Jishi are a little lonesome, and if the lad wants to make friends with them, he's more than welcome to."_

_Sagashimi sighed pityingly. "There are things about Naruto that you don't know. What I'm about to tell you is a high-class secret. That fool Sarutobi has made this punishable by death, but only if you reveal it to anybody in that brat's generation. This little loophole means that I can tell you, but don't go blabbing it to your children. That innocent looking blonde brat is in reality the Kyuubi No Kitsune."_

_Naruto froze as he felt his entire world crumble. His hopes, dreams, everything left him, only to come surging back, with more force than ever, at the next words said. _

_"You mean that that little kid is the jinchurriki of the Kyuubi?" the man laughed. "You think that makes him some sort of tool for the demon?"_

"_He's playing a game with the village that, mark my words, will have us all killed in our sleep someday. He should have been destroyed, not allowed to live, but Sarutobi was adamant that he live." Sagashimi said heatedly, his distaste for Naruto evident in every word. _

_"You know, I've dealt with Jinchurriki before. I'm surprised at how often they are mistaken for the demons that they contain. If that Naruto boy is a jinchurriki, he's not the demon itself, but the warden of the most high-security prison imaginable. Nor are the demons themselves truly evil. Think of them as more along the lines of walking natural disasters. When your whole life is destruction, do you really pay attention to what you're destroying? Think about that when you next see the boy. Now, I should probably be getting home. My wife will be worried sick about me." the man said, then turned and walked away, right past Naruto's hiding place, leaving Sagashimi gaping like a beached fish._

_Naruto tried to put what he just heard into terms that he could understand. 'So, I'm some sort of super prison for the most evil demon ever, but I'm not really evil? Is that why all the villagers hate me?' he thought, unable to think of anything else as he hurried to his home, where he fell into a fitful sleep._

_The man who had spoken to Sagashimi turned the corner and, in a puff of smoke, became the white haired form of Kakashi Hatake. He had achieved his goal. His beloved Sensei's son would at least know why he was hated, and he had planted the seed's to help the young boy come to peaceable terms with the secret. Kakashi hoped that what he had done was enough, but would watch the boy the next day. Elsewhere, three henged clones poofed out of existence, and the fiction that had been the life of Kakashi's henge was forever cast into oblivion._

_end flashback_

Naruto's eyes tightened at the memory. He was unsure whether or not he was happy. On the one hand, his questions had been answered, but on the other, he had no idea what to do with the information. He grinned. _It'll be the ultimate form of revenge if I become the Hokage still. Then all of the village will have no choice but to respect me. _he thought. Contrary to the beliefs of many, Naruto wasn't a fool. He knew you couldn't command someone's love, but as Hokage, he could command their respect and recognition. Hearing a whoosh behind him, Naruto got up, ready to run, when he was grabbed by his jumpsuits neck and hoisted into the air. The hand twisted, bringing his captor into view. Naruto saw that he was being held by an ANBU wearing an Inu mask. "So, do you have a reason for skipping school today, or are you just being lazy?" Inu asked, showing no strain at keeping Naruto in the air.

"Being lazy is more Shikamaru's thing, not mine. I'm taking a mental health day." he replied, not at all respectful of the ninja who had caught him.

"Today's the final day of the school year! You tell everyone that you're going to be the Hokage, but how do you expect to attain that level of skill if you're always the dead last in your class? Those kinds of things are habit making, and you can't be Hokage if you're the worst ninja in the village." Inu said conversationally, his voice betraying slight impatience.

"How am I supposed to escape being the dead last if my teachers hate me so much that they won't answer my questions, and everything gets so confusing? I can't learn on my own." Naruto said, unable to restrain the emotions in his voice.

Under his mask, Kakashi frowned. He hadn't expected that, but it would explain his grades. Spotting something out of the corner of his eye, he smirked. " Well then, how about I get you a tutor? Of course, you'll have to convince her to tutor you, right after you convince her not to murder you." Inu said, and then hurled Naruto off the roof.

Life sucked, that much Anko knew. The kids she had been in the academy with were all turning twenty, and here she was, a twenty year old stuck in a fourteen year olds body, thanks to her traitor master and a stasis seal of great power. What's more, even though she hadn't willingly gone with Orochimaru when he betrayed the village, she had in fact already been under the influence of the stasis seal,which meant until its removal two years ago, she had no memories, hadn't even aged, and she'd still been put on probation for being Orochimaru's frozen in time test dummy when Konoha ninja had found her. A three year fucking probation! Thankfully, and woefully, there was still a year left on her probation. Probation meant no missions, no missions meant no money, and no money meant no food. She was far too proud to take handouts from the Hokage, so the year ahead of her was looking pretty lean. Yep, life sucks, and then a screaming orange something falls from the sky right onto you. Somehow, Anko wasn't surprised.

Naruto's brain was jittering as he tried to come to terms with the fact that he was still alive and breathing. The first thing he noticed was that his head was on something very soft. Lifting his head, he realized that that something soft had been a pair of modest breasts, and looking up the valley between them, he saw the beautiful face of perhaps the most furious kunoichi in Konoha. She was most certainly the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He scrambled up, getting off of her as quickly as he could, and then helped her to stand as well. He had time to take in every detail of her face, from the spiky, jagged way that her hair was arranged behind her head, to her brown and gold eyes, which seemed to have no pupils, before he was grabbed by the hair and a kunai pressed to his throat. "Any last words, gaki?" she asked, the kunai starting to dig in.

His brain was starting to melt down. Going from seeing the face of the most beautiful girl to ever live, to having said girl threatening to kill him, well, it put a lot of stress on his ten year old mind. He gabbled for a moment before blurting the first thing that came to mind. "Will you go out with me?"

Anko stopped just as she was about to drag the kunai across his throat. Not deep enough to kill him of course, but deep enough for her to have a little bliss as he screamed in pain. 'What the hell did he just say?' Anko thought as she looked at the little twerps face. She almost blushed when she noticed his awestruck gaze locked onto her face. It was a step in the right direction, considering most men looked at her…assets, first. Looking at him again, his eyes brimming with adoration, she groaned. 'Just what I need, a pint-size stalker.' she thought, annoyed and embarrassed at the same time. She would admit that those blue eyes of his were gorgeous; he would do quite well with the ladies when he got older, and they were seemingly bottomless. However, bottomless eyes usually meant empty-head, and how would she look if she was caught torturing the village idiot. That was just to humiliating to continue contemplating. 'OK, so I can't kill him, so what options does that leave me? Hmm, I'd say it's a toss-up between accept the invitation and make him pay for the food, thereby saving me some much needed cash, or a harsh turndown.' she thought, and then sighed. She may be sadistic, but that was only in a physical sense. She was much too nice to maintain a clear conscience while playing with a little boy's emotions, and she new it. Harsh turndown it was. Pulling together her sadistic, and slightly creepy, mask of emotions, she prepared to crush the poor fool. "Why in the hell would I go out with you? You don't know me, I don't know you, and to be perfectly honest, I don't feel like taking the time to get to know you. Besides, your way to young for me." Anko said, her snide tone biting into Naruto with every syllable. Anko's mask almost broke when she saw the hurt, loss, and surprisingly, rage, flash across the little boy's face, before she saw something else, a glimpse of loneliness so profound that it was chilling. Almost as if some puppet master had grabbed her strings, Anko opened he mouth again. "Listen up brat; I've got some relationship advice for you, real basic stuff. For one thing, if you want to ask somebody you don't know out, introduce yourself first. Trust me; it'll work better than just asking without an introduction. Second, when you ask somebody out, try not to be wearing something that looks like it should be burned. Right now, I'm tempted to burn it while you're still residing in it. Might I suggest a change in wardrobe? If you can do that, there is a slight chance that somebody, someday, will say yes. Just don't ask me again. You're still too young for me."

She watched as his face lit up like a million watt light bulb. His face was almost as blinding. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage! Believe It!" Naruto said, giving a Good Guy pose eerily reminiscent of Might Guy. "Some day you, the most beautiful kunoichi in Konoha, will go out with me!" he paused, looking a little confused. "Um, what's your name?"

Anko felt her face starting to heat up. 'It's just because he's funny, it's not because you're embarrassed that he called you the most beautiful kunoichi in Konoha. Right, keep telling yourself that and maybe it'll come true.' she thought, while she answered the cheerful baka's question. "The name's Anko Mitarashi, Genin of Konoha, and the self-declared number one dango lover in the world. Now, if you want to impress any girls, isn't there something you should be doing?" Naruto nodded vigorously, before tearing off down the street like he had a blood-thirsty mob after him. Anko watched him disappear down the street, before continuing her walk. It was with some amusement that she caught herself smiling. 'Well, well, that little gaki managed to cheer me up. That's one interesting little kid.' she thought, before she started to whistle cheerfully, an action that had a cold chill run down the back of every adult male within a three block radius.

Meanwhile, up on the roof, Kakashi couldn't believe what he had just seen. Underneath his Inu mask, his face twisted into a frown. 'Well, I suppose it wasn't a total loss. He did manage not to get killed, and Anko did a favor for the entire village by convincing him to get rid of that horrid orange outfit, but still, I send him to get a tutor, and he tries to get a girlfriend. It's really no wonder he's the dead-last in the class. Huh, I'm gonna need some help with this.' he thought, and then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto was excited, and determined to become the kind of person that Anko would date. The first thing he had to do was change how he dressed, and he knew just the place to do it. The Haruno Outfitter's was the largest retail shop in Konoha that catered exclusively to shinobi, as well as academy students. Normally he wasn't allowed to go in, but running around the corner, and coming in sight of the store, Naruto slid to a stop. For a few minutes, he watched the entrance, then slipped in amongst a small group of ninja going in, then quickly escaped the sightline of the register. Once he was hidden by a solid barrier of clothing, he breathed a sigh of relief. 'Now, what do I think Anko would like? Um, maybe something with a fishnet shirt. Oh, I need some help.' Naruto thought, wandering aimlessly around the section, before he ran straight into a familiar looking pinkette. Reeling back from the impact, Naruto had a sudden thought 'Sakura-chan! She can help me!' Naruto immediately pounced forward, grabbing the poor girl by her shoulders and shaking her as he gave into a frenzied babble. "Sakurayougottahelpmethere'sthisreallybeutifulgirlandIhavetolookcoolfor

herpleasehelpmegetnewclothes!

Sakura was, among other things, an accomplished fan-girl, and where most people heard only a long string of uninterrupted gibberish, she heard a clear and concise plea from Naruto to help him get new clothes. She almost said no, but decided that she might as well. Naruto wasn't overly intelligent, but he was annoyingly persistent. That had been proven by his inability to get the point when she turned down his offer to take her on a date. Whoever this girl was, Sakura hoped she was as stubborn as Naruto; otherwise, she'd eventually be going on a date with him. Naruto was, to quote Shikamaru, troublesome. "Where you looking for anything in particular?" Sakura asked, as was her responsibility. She did work in the family store, but she just usually made sure everything was stocked. This was her chance to prove she could handle customers!

"Well, to be honest, it needs to be really cheap." Naruto replied.

"How cheap we talking here?" Sakura asked, dreading the answer.

"About 400 Ryo is all I have on me." Naruto said sheepishly.

Sakura groaned. That was about as cheap as you can get, then she brightened. She walked towards the back of the store, Naruto trailing behind her. She stopped in front of a large rack with a word in large capital letters over it. "Welcome to the clearance rack!" Sakura said happily. All told, it took the pair about three hours to finally settle on something that they thought was stylish, affordable by Naruto, and most important to Sakura, completely devoid of the color orange. Sakura had to admit, when he came out of the changing room in his new clothes, he looked a lot better. Ninja pants and sandals, and a fishnet shirt under a sapphire blue vest. That one was an especially lucky find. The hue satisfied Naruto's demand for attention, and the vest itself looked exactly like the ones that Chunin and Jonin wore. Thanking Sakura, Naruto took the tags, and went up to the register. Hoping that he would be able to get away, he ran past the register, slapping the money onto the counter, along with the tags. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough. He hadn't even taken three steps before he was grabbed from behind. His assailant spun him around, bringing him face to face with the now angry cashier.

"Are you trying to steal from me, you little brat?" she said, her face beginning to take on an ugly, mottled red hue.

"The money is already on the counter, Haruno." said an elderly voice behind Naruto.

The Haruno's eyes flicked upward, then widened in surprise. "Hokage-sama!" she croaked out, letting go of Naruto, who quickly took the opportunity to back away as fast as he could. He kept backing up until he felt a kindly hand tough his back. Looking up, he felt a wave of relief go through him. It was the Hokage!

"I trust that will be all, Haruno?" the Hokage said, the grim note in his voice dissuading the Haruno from saying another word. The Haruno nodded, and the Hokage led Naruto outside. "Inu, front and center." the old man said, and Naruto saw the ANBU who had thrown him off the roof appear in front of them, head bowed in deference to his Kage. "Inu, the matter we discussed is approved in its entirety. I will pay the bill myself, but you will set the criteria for improvement, and the reward for success. Do as you see fit. Now, I must be getting back to my office. The paperwork never ends, and this matter will add a whole new mountain. Naruto, you will follow Inu-san. He will show you what you will be doing on your vacation."

Naruto considered arguing, but the look in the elderly Hokage's eye said that he wouldn't take no for an answer. There were some things even he wouldn't argue against, and this was one of them. Glumly, Naruto nodded, visions of relaxing all vacation dwindling away. With a small smile, the Hokage disappeared, heading back to his office in hopes of finishing his paperwork. Meanwhile, Naruto began to follow the Inu masked ANBU. The walk was surprisingly short. After just a few corners turned, Inu guided Naruto to the most rundown apartment complex in Konoha. He then stopped in front of the rattiest looking door of them all. Naruto looked around in surprise. 'Even my place is better than this' he thought, beginning to get worried. He really hoped that he wouldn't be spending the vacation trying to fix this dump up. That would be a real bummer. Looking at the door in front of him, he wondered who would live in such a place. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Inu started pounding on the door, every blow making it shake in its slider. A few seconds later, the door was opened by none other than Naruto's crush, Anko, playing with a snake with one hand, while fiddling with a kunai with the other. Naruto immediately felt his brain start to short circuit.

Anko was rather surprised when she opened the door to see the gaki from earlier, as well as an Inu masked ANBU. "Anko Mitarashi, meet the academy's dead-last, the boy you will be tutoring for the next two months." Inu said. This had the immediate effect of bringing Naruto out of his momentary short circuit.

Anko blinked. "What?" was all she could initially say, than she gathered herself. "Why the hell would I do that?!" she snapped, almost seeming to bite the words.

Inu shifted slightly. " Do you mind if we come in?" he asked. Anko sighed, but nodded. Stepping to the side of the doorway, she motioned them inside. To Naruto's intense surprise, the inside was actually quite neat. The place was a one-room apartment, with kitchen, bedroom, and den in one modestly sized room. Along one wall was a large terrarium, which Anko deposited her snake into. "Anko, I understand why you don't want to tutor him, but the Hokage is willing to make you quite the little deal." Inu said once he had gotten comfortable, leaning against the wall.

"What kind of deal are we talking here?" Anko said suspiciously, completely ignoring Naruto, except to note the he had followed her advice on the clothing.

"Tutoring Naruto will be regarded as a C-class mission, and because its going to take a while, there will be weekly paychecks. The Hokage is also willing to shorten your probation if you do well with Naruto." Inu answered, and Anko's jaw dropped.

"Just how much would he shorten my probation by?" she breathed, unable to believe her luck.

"The Hokage feels that if Naruto's improvement is significant, your probation would be shortened by ten months." he replied, and Anko took on a flabbergasted appearance, before she gathered herself.

"That is one hell of a deal. In fact, that deal is so good, and so designed for someone in my position, that it raises a few questions. What's wrong with this kid? Why's the Hokage being so generous for the sake of this one little gaki?" she questioned, and Inu stiffened.

"I was asked to look into Naruto's education, and upon my report, the Hokage felt that the boy hadn't been given a fair shake at the academy. I personally observed him in class, and almost all of his teachers ignore his existence. He's also being given tests of a much higher caliber than his classmates are. This has made it all but impossible to tell his actual rank in the class without the interference of his teachers. The Hokage feels that he needs to correct this unfortunate occurrence. Therefore, at the end of his vacation, he is being given a test that will set him a new rank within his class." the ANBU said, rubbing the back of his head. Most of what he had said was even true.

"What are his current grades?" Anko asked suspiciously, a note of dread audible in her voice. Inu wordlessly handed her a sheet of papers that he produced from inside of his vest. Anko's eyes widened. "The academy is still graded on a scale of zero to five, right?" she asked in a weak voice. Inu nodded, somehow managing to look woeful even with his entire face covered. Anko looked like she was about to cry, and for good reason. 'Great Kami, his grades suck! Taijutsu-1.1, Genjutsu-0.1, Ninjutsu-0.5, Ninja Theory-2.9, Basic Shinobi battle tactics-1.3, General academia(math, reading, and writing)-2.6. These grades are so bad, and they don't bode well for the poor gaki. If these are an accurate representation of his grades, then he'd be dead in a second in the field. Normally, I'd just think that he was an idiot, but according to Inu-san, this kid's education has been neglected in a way that's not only dangerous to him, but to all those around him. It's really so pathetic, and I feel like I've been guilted into this.' Anko thought. "One more thing. How much improvement do you think would qualify as significant? Don't be afraid to be specific."

Inu grinned. He knew he almost had her. "I'd say that if you get everything two and above, that'll be good."

Anko sighed. "Well, at least I'm getting paid, right?" she said, then turned to Naruto, who had begun to feel left out of the whole conversation. "Gaki, until the two months is up, your ass is mine. You sleep when I say sleep, you eat what I tell you to, and you study when I tell you too. Every day will be devoted to a specific subject, with an hour a day given over to General Academia. Do you understand?"

Naruto quickly counted things up in his head. "Hey, doesn't that still leave two days a week free?" he asked tentatively.

"Oh joy, you can count! Every Sunday will be a rest day, and every Saturday will be devoted to the study of a subject you will pick in the Konoha Public Library." Anko almost purred.

Naruto lowered his gaze, nervously kicking the floor of the apartment. "The librarian lady won't let me in. Every time I go in, she hits me, and I don't like being hit." he said nervously.

Anko's heart went out to the boy. 'The stupidity of people is really amazing. It'll never cease to amaze me.' Walking up to the boy, she calmly flicked his forehead. "She may not want you in there, but until the end of your vacation, I will treat you as my own apprentice, and if she hits you, it'll be the last thing she ever does, okay?" Naruto nodded, and Anko smiled. "Good! Now, unless you both want to be castrated, I'd suggest you get out of my apartment. Naruto, if you aren't here by 5 A.M., I'll feed you to my snakes, and if you haven't improved in two months, every horrible, painful dream you've ever had will come true. Now, scat!" Anko said in a sing-song voice, taking great pleasure in slamming her apartment door behind their rapidly retreating bodies.

**Chapter End**

**Well, I hope you guys liked it. Trust me, there is a lot more to left to go. There is so much more left to go before I can skip to his graduation, but please be patient. Also, please tell me if I'm portraying the characters well. A certain amount of OOC is to be expected, but I'd like to know if you think its just too far out.**


	2. The Chosen Paths

The banging on Anko's door woke her from a deep, and blessedly dreamless, sleep. Her first thoughts were somewhat muddled by sleep, but that quickly passed as the banging got louder. 'Wha-? The gaki! Why the hell did I tell him to some this early? Was I under the influence of some sort of genjutsu?' was her first coherent thought. Getting out of bed, she stumbled over to the door. Looking through the eyehole, she saw that it was indeed the little gaki, and opening the door, she quickly yanked the twerp inside before closing the door. Realizing that she hadn't actually thought of anything for him to do, she looked around, hoping for some sort of inspiration. Her eyes landing on a stray leaf that had accompanied Naruto inside, her mouth curled into smug grin. She knew a way to keep the gaki busy, and let herself get more sleep. "Naruto, you know how to do the charka control exercise, the one where you hold a leaf to your forehead with just charka, right?" Naruto nodded dumbly, completely unable to form coherent thought. In his defense this was probably because Anko's taste in bed clothing was very…minimal, barely covering her fun parts. Anko sighed in relief, which caused Naruto's nose to start bleeding as he followed the rise and fall of her chest. "Well then, here, practice. Wake me up at nine and we'll go to the library. Oh, and make sure you don't get any blood on the floor." That said, Anko shuffled back to her bed and burrowed back under the covers, murmuring happily at their warmth and comfort.

Looking at his supposed tutor, who was sleeping happily in front of him, Naruto couldn't exactly help but think that she hadn't exactly planned for him to show up on time. This train of thought was interrupted by Anko twisting on her bed, thrusting her modestly commendable assets into prominent view. Naruto grabbed his nose to stem the fresh flow of blood before resolutely turning his back. 'It's just not fair! How the hell does she do that? It's like she's purposely torturing me.' he thought as he grudgingly began to do the ordered exercise. At first, he was only able to maintain the connection for a few seconds, but as time wore on, he got better and better. In fact, every time he set a new record, he would work twice as hard to break it. When it was finally time to wake Anko up, he was able to hold it to his forehead for more than twenty minutes.

Anko walked briskly, cheerfully whistling, while a more subdued Naruto followed closely behind. The large swelling on his head was a testament to how violently Anko reacted to being shaken awake. Next time, he vowed, he was using a stick. Preferably one long enough to poke her from the doorway. Still feeling bubbly, Anko strutted into the library, making a beeline for the shinobi only section. Hearing the unmistakable sound of flesh striking flesh, Anko whirled around. The sight that greeted her was a far from pretty one. Naruto was on the ground, his cheek rapidly reddening, and blood flowing from a split lip and one of his nostrils, the librarian standing over him with her hand raised. Anko felt her good mood vanish completely, almost like it had never been there. Stomping forward, she grabbed Naruto and started to drag him over to the shinobi section. The librarian opened her mouth, perhaps to demand Naruto's expulsion from the library, but one look at Anko's venomous gaze, and she thought better of it. Even she knew better than to risk pissing of a kunoichi.

Once inside the relative safety of the section dedicated entirely to the ninja arts, Anko sat Naruto at a table, tilting his head to look at the rapidly swelling side of his face. Anko felt a fresh burst of anger flow through her, and it only got worse when she saw the way his eyes looked. 'He's not even angry! Just how often has he been hit that he thinks that this is okay? What's more, the look on that librarians face was exultant, like she'd just done something worth fame and fortune. Why the hell does everybody hate this kid so much? He's harmless!' Anko thought, troubled by just how used the little gaki seemed to be to casual cruelty. Looking at Naruto, Anko stifled her anger. She wasn't going to get angry at him for something that hadn't been his fault. "All right, listen up gaki. I want you to look around this section of the library and find something that you might want to learn. Make sure it's interesting to you, as you might have to learn it on your own, and you'll be devoting every Saturday to learning it. Another thing is that it can't be something that I'm already supposed to be teaching you, got it?"

Naruto nodded, but looked a little confused. "But why can't we just put double the time into one of the other things? That would make more sense to me."

In a flash, Naruto had a kunai at his throat. "You questioning me, gaki?" she asked, her smile so wide that her eyes were forced closed.

"N-No! Of course not! Why would I do that? I just wanted you to explain a little bit, that's all!" Naruto stammered, fully aware that he was walking on the proverbial thin ice, and Anko was holding a sledgehammer.

Anko almost sighed, but clenched her jaw. She'd noticed that she had been sighing a lot lately. She blamed the gaki. "Tell me, are there any clan kids in your class?"

"Yeah. Actually, now that I think about it, there's a whole lot of them." Naruto replied, fully aware of the kunai still at his throat, though Anko seemed to have forgotten that she was holding it there.

"Well, those children from clans have an unfair advantage over kids from regular families. Their advantage is mainly in the fact that most clans have either specialized jutsu that they guard jealously, like the Inuzuka and the Aburame, or even special abilities called kekkei ginkai, like the Hyuuga and Uchiha. The Hyuuga clan in particular has an unfair advantage, mainly because they have both a kekkei ginkai called the Byakugan, and an entire style of taijutsu that is supplemented by it. By making you learn something that they don't teach at the academy, you may be able to get an unfair advantage that even those clan kids don't have. Now we, and by we I mean you, need to find something so interesting that you'll keep studying it even after I'm done tutoring you." Anko explained, surprising Naruto by making sense. Normally, older people were a total mystery, even when they explained themselves. Anko removed the kunai from Naruto's throat, sliding it back up her sleeve. "Okay, now gaki, I have a few errands to run, you know, hither and yon, but I should be back with lunch in a few hours, say three at the most. When I get back, I expect you to have found something interesting, any questions?" Staying just long enough for Naruto to shake his head, Anko left the library, snagging the bitch of a librarian on the way out, her mouth widening into a malicious grin. Hit her student indeed!

20 minutes later

"So, you're never going to lay a hand on Naruto again, just like we discussed, right?" Anko asked in a sickly sweet tone as she held the bloodied woman in the air, the two story drop below the librarian's frantically kicking feet made all the more terrifying by the open mouth of a thirty foot snake right below her. The woman's head nodded so fast that Anko was surprised that it didn't snap. Anko all but purred. "Good. I'd hate to have to kill you. There's just so much paperwork involved that the twenty minutes of torture just wouldn't have been enough to be worth the effort." The smile on Anko's face widened even more as she dropped the woman, dispelling the summon just before she landed in its mouth. Cackling evilly, Anko leapt from rooftop to rooftop, her good mood having been entirely restored by the opportunity to torture somebody. There was just something about the sounds they made as they were cut, and the taste of their blood differed from person to person. She idly wondered what the gaki's blood tasted like as she headed for the academy. There was one Iruka Umino-sensei that she needed to get some help from. She needed to set up a real lesson plan for Naruto.

Naruto was starting to get frustrated. There was almost nothing but ninja theory in here, and while that was useful, even he knew that it wouldn't give him the kind of advantage that Anko was talking about. After another quarter hour of searching, he finally struck the proverbial gold. He looked at the small, unassuming book in his hands, the title written in plain, red lettering. 'A Beginner's Guide To Fuinjutsu, huh?' Naruto thought. It sounded promising. He knew almost nothing about fuinjutsu, and since it was a beginner's guide, it would logically start at the beginning. Dubiously opening the book, Naruto read the first chapter. Within ten minutes of starting, he was totally absorbed, going through the rest of the shinobi section and pulling out all the other books on fuinjutsu. He was so absorbed that he didn't even notice when the crying and bleeding figure of the librarian dragged herself by, intent on reaching her desk before she passed out.

Though the academy year had ended on the previous day, the Chunin teachers were still hard at work, either grading the final tests of their class, cleaning the gum off of various objects, or, in the case of Iruka Umino, helping a young genin tutor prepare a teaching schedule for a rather special student. Iruka would admit, he had been surprised when Anko Mitarashi, a probationary genin, had shown up, requesting his specific aid on putting together a lesson plan that the hardheaded Naruto would actually learn from. Together, the two of them had put together what they believed to be an especially effective plan, one that Iruka was thinking about suggesting the entire academy adopt. It was well balanced, even though it stressed theory over practice, with a full course of books that needed to be read on each subject that it touched. Iruka had been pleasantly surprised that Anko wasn't anything like the rumors said. There was just no way that this cheerful and polite young woman could be the sadistic little snake that everyone thought her to be. It was just impossible. 'Nope' Iruka thought as Anko thanked him and left. 'She's a surprisingly even tempered girl, more so than some that I could name. There isn't any way that that girl is a sadist.'

Arriving back at the library, Anko grimaced. She'd worked her ass off today, and it wasn't even two in the afternoon yet! Hopefully Naruto had found some interesting reading. Imagine, for a moment, her surprise when she found that Naruto wasn't only reading, but had almost a dozen books on the table in front of him, four of which were open. Looking at some of the titles, Anko whistled. 'Basic Fuinjutsu Theory, Lectures on Fuinjutsu, Array Upon Array: Construction of Basic Fuinjutsu, Fuinjutsu: Offence vs. Defense, a Comparison of its Many Uses, Fuinjutsu: Limited Only By Imagination' Anko's eye's widened after each consecutive title. "Damn gaki, are you sure you aren't just pretending to understand all of this?"

Naruto nodded. "This one keeps referencing other books, but thankfully this library has all of them. Other than that, yeah it's pretty hard, but its so…" Naruto said, trailing off, his jaw going slack as he continued to read. Shaking his head, Naruto looked at Anko. "I never knew that seals could be so versatile. Um, Anko-sensei, could you go get me some paper and a pencil? I think I'm gonna need to take some notes." After saying that, Naruto returned his eyes to the book in front of him, jaw going slack once again.

Smiling a little, Anko did as she was asked, taking great pleasure in seeing the fear in the librarian's eyes as she approached, seized the requested materials from in front of the terrified woman, and returned to Naruto's table. 'Fuinjutsu, huh? Well, I hope he can learn on his own.' she thought, watching as Naruto took copious notes, the excitement in his eyes obvious. He had found a life-long love in the complex art.

Sunday, 10:00 A.M.

Naruto crept through the various training grounds, taking great pains not to be seen by the ninjas training on them. While as an academy student he was technically a ninja, he was still barred from training grounds unless invited to train with a full-fledged ninja. None of the ninja he saw on the training grounds were doing anything special, at least until he got to training ground twenty-five. There, he saw something that he knew would be useful, and more to the point, make him look so cool at the same time. An ANBU wearing a Neko mask was dueling a sickly-looking man, both with drawn swords. As Naruto watched in open-mouthed awe, the two flowed from pose to pose, their weapons, a ninjato in the case of the woman, and a long katana in the case of the man, were silvery blurs in the air, thrumming as they were dragged through the air at high speed. Breaking apart, the duo paused and looked in Naruto's direction, both of them panting, though the sickly man was coughing every few seconds. "Well Gekko, it seems we have an audience . Why don't you come out here where we can see you? It'll save me the trouble of having to come get you. If I have to come get you, I'm sure that it'll be a painful experience for you." Neko said, her masked face staring directly at Naruto. Naruto stepped out into the clearing, a sheepish grin plastered across his face. 'This is the Kyuubi kid.' Neko thought, looking at Naruto and his new wardrobe.

Naruto, while sheepish, was still as impulsive as ever. Running up to Neko, he began to jump up and down in excitement. "You've gotta teach me how you guys do that! It was so cool!" Naruto continued to beg them to teach him, little hearts growing in his eyes.

Gekko Hayate grinned. It was very rare to see such enthusiasm directed at his first love and greatest skill, kenjutsu. Looking at Neko, he grinned. He knew his lover well enough to see that she was just as amused by the boy as he was. "What is it you want to learn about it?" Gekko asked, his question punctuated by a soft cough. His bouts of illness were getting steadily worse. Even if he were to retire, and live a peaceful and relaxed life, he had a decade left to live, at most. The real odds were probably around four to six years. That was part of the reason the he and Yugao hadn't made the arrangement between them more permanent. The kid looked at him, his enthusiasm almost tangible, along with a lot of determination. Gekko nodded approvingly. This was getting better and better.

"Everything that you'll teach me!" Naruto declared.

Yugao laughed behind her Neko mask. "C'mon Gekko, your not seriously thinking about this, are you? You know what he is, and more importantly, how dangerous he could become to the village. Why would you want to teach a little brat like this?"

"If by what he is you mean the jinchurriki of the Kyuubi No Kitsune, then yes, that's exactly what I am. My answer to that is so what? I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen, and my dream is to someday be Hokage. My favorite ninja art is fuinjutsu, and I want the chance to learn this. How does that make me a danger to this village?" Naruto asked heatedly, the passion in his voice granting his words greater power, and causing both adults to stare at him in astonishment.

Yugao opened her mouth to speak, but when she met Naruto's gaze, she found that she couldn't. It was as if a great shame weighed down her words, and no force could make them come out. After a moment, she forcibly averted her gaze, before giving a short, apologetic, bow in Naruto's direction. "I will not ask how you found out about the Kyuubi. I merely ask your forgiveness for my thoughtless words. They were cruel and untrue, and it was rude of me to speak as I did."

Just like that, the anger in Naruto's eyes passed, gone like a bad dream upon waking. In its place was a large, toothy grin. "Sure, you're forgiven. What kind of future Hokage would I be if I couldn't forgive my soon-to-be subordinates for their little mistakes?"

At that, Gekko burst out laughing, while Yugao mate sputtering noises. What nerve this child had! That was it, the final straw. If the kid had the nerve to insult a masked ANBU, then it was up to Gekko to give him the tools he would need to survive. "Naruto, your one of a kind, you know that? Neko-chan, you go ahead and get out of here. I'll meet you at the usual place later tonight. Right now though, there are a couple things I want to show the kid." Yugao shrugged, and then walked off of the training ground. Even though she was silent, Gekko could read her like an open book. She wasn't happy, and she was probably going to scold him at great length about it later. 'I really hope this kid is worth it.' he thought, looking at the boy in question. He would have preferred to have been skinned alive then bear Yugao's anger. It would have been less painful for him in the long run. "Naruto, was it? My name is Gekko Hayate. Come, sit with me." he said, coughing lightly as he moved to the shade of a large tree before sitting down. Taking out a clothe, a whetstone, and some oil, he began to hone the nicks out of the katana's blade. He looked at Naruto, who, having sat down, was watching his every move curiously. "This is what I call after use maintenance. The truth is, to truly maintain a blade can take hours of hard work. I'll do the rest of the necessary maintenance when I get home, but for now, this will do. Now, pay attention, as before you are trusted with wielding a blade, you must know how to properly take care of it."

Naruto blinked. "So you're going to teach me?" he asked, beginning to vibrate with obvious excitement.

"I love the art of kenjutsu. A lifetime of training in it has made me a good swordsmen. Still, I would be a poor pupil of this art if I didn't teach all that I had learned to an eager young boy such as yourself, and you will one day pass it on to your students, and they onto their students. By teaching you, I am also teaching all those that you will one day teach, and If I deny you, who knows how many would never hold the sword in their hands, never feel their blade come alive as an extension of themselves? I would never be able to live with the guilt. So, in answer to your question, yes, I will teach you." Gekko said, examining the blade minutely before he began to hone it again. "Now, you're obviously an academy student, and I believe that the academy is on a two month vacation, correct?"

"Yeah, but my grades in the academy were so bad that I was assigned to a tutor for the entire two months, and she would ditch my body out in the forest if I played hooky on her. Sundays are actually my only free days." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

Gekko blinked, and then pursed his lips thoughtfully. "That is unfortunate. We will have to work around that. Hmm, very well, you will come here every Sunday until the day you graduate from the academy. You may consider yourself apprenticed to me specifically for instruction in the art of kenjutsu. Never miss a single day, and never ask me for help in anything else, or I will never teach you another thing. When you graduate from the academy, we will work out a new schedule with whomever you Jonin sensei happens to be. However, until that day, pay attention."

For the rest of the day, Naruto and Gekko spoke, Naruto learning at an astounding pace, and Gekko teaching his new pupil, beginning that day the long road that a teacher must walk with their student as they impart knowledge from the old generation, to the new.

The next two months were a pleasant blur to Naruto, and they were among the happiest in his life. Sure, Anko was completely unpredictable, fully capable of flashing from sweet and caring to completely sadistic at a moments notice. More than once Naruto had been forced to study under the guard of a half-dozen highly poisonous snakes, all of who had orders to bite him if he so much as looked away from the books. Some wouldn't have survived the ordeal, but to Naruto, it was an insignificant price to pay for basking in the glory of Anko's beauty, his feelings for her the only thing that could compare to his fervor for fuinjutsu and his dedication to kenjutsu.

As for Gekko, he was a harsh and demanding teacher, expecting and getting nothing but Naruto's very best. Despite this, Naruto persevered in learning the intricacies of kenjutsu, often astounding Gekko with his stamina, or sheer ability to put the most complex of things into the simplest of terms. In fact, Naruto was doing so well that, despite the fact that they only met on Sundays, Gekko said he might be ready for a blade of his own in a little over a year. This was an important step to an aspiring kenjutsuist, as it signified the teacher's recognition of the student's skill. It had taken Gekko almost three years to earn his, and Naruto drove himself even harder. He wanted to beat his teacher's record.

When the two months allocated to her mission were up, Anko presented the new and improved gaki to the Hokage. 'Please don't screw this up for me gaki.' she silently pleaded. She'd promised to kill him if he screwed up, but after the last two months, she had begun to doubt her resolve to fulfill the threat. Not that she wouldn't put him through hell trying, but something told her she wouldn't be able to deliver a killing blow to him, even if he begged her to. What could she say, having somebody look at you with adoration every time they saw you could make a girl feel special, and unless he betrayed her, Anko didn't think she'd ever be able to permanently hurt him. Trying to distract herself from those rather depressing thoughts, she talked with the Hokage, who could gossip like an old hen when he wanted too, jumping from subject to subject. In another room, Iruka, one of the boy's teachers, and soon to be the only one, as the academy was adopting a new teaching schedule, administered the test under the watchful eyes of the Inu masked ANBU. After four of the most agonizingly slow hours of her life, Naruto finally reentered the Hokage's office. "So gaki, how do you think you did?" Anko asked casually. Naruto shrugged, and Anko's blood started to boil. She had to keep reminding herself that it was a bad thing to maliciously torture somebody. At least, it was if you were in front of the Hokage. Half an hour later, Iruka entered the room and handed a piece of paper to the Hokage, who cleared hi throat before he started to read.

"Taijutsu, 3.2." The little gaki had no real style to speak of, and Anko would be damned before she taught him hers. He already had a bad enough reputation without knowing the rather distinctive fighting style of a renowned traitor. It was a good thing that most of the tests were based around theory. "Genjutsu, 2.9." Naruto had the henge down pat, and had learned the theory in leaps and bounds, once Anko had put the whole thing in Naruto-speak. "Ninjutsu, 3.1." Again, Anko was glad that the test centered on theory. The poor little twerp just had too much charka to do the standard **Bunshin No Jutsu**, even after Anko had taught him tree-walking, his control just wasn't good enough. "Ninja Theory, 4.9, and General Academia, 4.1." There weren't any real surprises there, those two had been his best subjects after all, and two months of intense study in each had done wonders for him, apparently. "Finally, Basic Shinobi Tactics, 3.7. With these grades, Naruto will now be ranked within the top quarter of his class. As for you, Anko, congratulations on a commendably successful mission. Your probation is hereby lifted, and you are accorded the rights of a fully fledged genin of Konoha, and Until you are integrated into a team, you will be allowed to do D-Rank missions on your own."

Anko and Naruto had been jumping up and down in excitement since they had heard Naruto's last grade. Everything else was meaningless to them, for all that mattered to them was that they had managed to each help a new friend.

**A.N.**

** There seemed to be some sort of misconception on a couple of things. First off, the stasis seal. Here's the definition I created for it.**

**Stasis Seal- A seal designed for use on a living subject that, once placed onto a living body, puts the bearer into a state of suspended animation. The bearer doesn't age, and is completely unaware of the passage of time. Basically, their in a coma. The bearer only comes out of the coma upon removal of the seal. That's right people, Anko isn't stuck at fourteen, she's aging again.**

**Also, I would like to point out that the next chapter will be a three year skip to where the anime and manga start. The reason I started it this early is so that Naruto doesn't just suddenly become super powerful and knowledgeable in fuinjutsu and kenjutsu, but instead, we will see the product of years of research and training in these arts. The fact that we will be skipping these years is of little consequence. Plus, It gives me all kinds of flashback opportunities. Still, three years of study will have made Naruto a much smarter person. Still easy to fool, of course, you just have to go about it a different way. Think of it like this: A whole lot of brain, not a lick of common sense.**

**Finally, thank you to all who have reviewed my story so far. You have given me a great deal of inspiration for my story. I have one more significant change for you, then were going to let things fall how they will. **

**Next Time: Kitsune Kuchiyose No Jutsu!**


	3. Kitsune No Kuchiyose

Some things change, while others remain eternal. The Ninja Academy was one of the latter, while Naruto was one of the many former. Three years since Naruto had been tutored by Anko, and the changes were easily seen. He wasn't as loud as he would have been, nor was he as quick to pull pranks. Long hours of forced study had given him patience. He was a model student, at least on the theoretical subjects. On paper, he was the best in the class, but in practice, well, there are some things that never really change, or that change just isn't enough. Naruto sat on the swing, his face downcast as he studied the other students. They were the happy ones, the ones who had graduated. 'Damn that **Bunshin No Jutsu**! Damn the fact that I have too much chakra!' Naruto thought to himself, 'Damn those teachers that don't believe that I have just way to damn much chakra!' What made it all worse was that Anko, who was now a chunin and expecting a promotion to tokubetsu jonin any day now, had taken time from her busy schedule to see her younger friend graduate. Now, she was standing across the yard, staring at him, her eyes unreadable. Naruto couldn't help but feel that he had failed her and that hurt him more than anything else. Naruto continued to stare at the former students as more and more poisonous thoughts ran through his head.

Anko watched Naruto, not moving towards him at all. She knew what he was thinking, and while it was far from the truth, any attempts by her to cheer him up would backfire. He just wanted her to leave him alone. As to why he had failed, she couldn't understand, no, it was more like she couldn't comprehend just how much chakra he had. His control was about as fine-tuned as it could possibly be, and he still poured way too much chakra into his bunshinjutsu. Anko had even helped him attain his level of control.

**Flashback**

_It had been almost two years since they had met, and the two of them had become the closest of friends. Every chance she got, Anko would train with Naruto, teaching him a number of jutsu, sharing stories and jokes. Today, Anko had a particular type of training for him. With this training in mind, Anko took him to the hot springs. "Okay gaki! Are you ready to learn something new! Good, because I'm only gonna show you once. After that, you're on your own!" Anko said, and then leapt onto the piping hot water. To Naruto's intense surprise, she landed on it, instead of plunging in. It seemed that she had landed on a completely solid surface. Naruto's mind raced, trying to figure out how she had done it. Before he could think of a possible answer, Anko answered for him. "All right then. Before you think it gaki, no, it's not any kind of fuinjutsu. There aren't any seals on my feet or shoes. This, gaki, is a higher form of chakra control, much like tree walking was. However, this one is far more complex. In tree walking, you maintain a steady flow of chakra to your feet, but that's for sticking to a solid surface. On a liquid surface, which is obviously much looser, that won't work. Instead of a continuous and steady flow, you have to constantly alter it. Think of it this way; instead of sticking to the water, you want to repel your body away from it, just enough to make it impossible for you to sink. So that takes care of both theory and a visual model, now do it gaki!"_

_ The rest of the day was filled with Naruto's screams as he failed the control and fell into the steaming water, punctuated by Anko's laughter at Naruto's steadily reddening skin. She'd even started crying when she found out he yelped when she poked him. _

**End flashback**

Anko smiled slightly at the memory. "Good times, good times." she muttered under her breathe, watching as a chunin who she recognized as Mizuki, one of the boy's assistant teachers, walked over to Naruto and started talking to him. Just a short time later, Naruto tore off, his face excited. The small smile on Anko's lips twisted into a full smirk. 'Naruto, nothing can keep you down for very long, huh?' she thought.

**Later that evening, just after midnight**

Naruto crept silently through the halls of the Hokage's Tower. More than just containing the office and living quarters of the current Hokage, the tower also contained two other very important parts of the village. One of these was the Records Department. While the Hokage and the council were the administrative heads of the village, the Records Department was the backbone. It served the important duties of recording the village's mission history, as well as the success and fail rates, judging the difficulty of any given mission before it even reached the Hokage, as well as advertising the services of the village, balancing the villages funds, and any of a hundred other things that the village simply couldn't do without. In fact, one could argue that if you killed off the records department, the entire village of Konohagakure would simply grind to a halt. The Records Department was what made Konoha the successful shinobi village that it was. The other thing that the Hokage tower contained was the fabled Jonin Library. The repository of every jutsu ever created in the Leaf, as well as every jutsu ever stolen from other hidden villages, it contained literally thousands of scrolls, ranging from the most basic of taijutsu styles to the most destructive of ninjutsu and most effective genjutsu. It was the perfect place to look for the scroll that Mizuki-sensei had told him about.

**Flashback**

_ "Naruto." the man said as he walked over to the blonde haired student. _

_ "Naruto twisted around. "Mizuki-sensei." Naruto said, bobbing hi head respectfully in greeting, his normally exuberant attitude subdued. _

_ "Naruto, I was wondering, would you would be interested in a make-up test?" Mizuki asked, watching Naruto perk up, his attention effectively caught. "If you want try the make-up test, be warned, it's a lot harder than the regular version, but I think that it's within your skill set."_

_ Naruto frowned. "But if it's harder, how will I pass it?"_

_ Mizuki grinned. He knew he had the brat's attention now. "Well, the entire problem you had with the regular bunshin is that you have way too much chakra, right?" Seeing Naruto nod, he continued. "Well, I've heard rumors of a bunshin technique that's considered a kinjutsu because it takes so much chakra; a regular person would possible die from it. Thing is, you have chakra control that's high chunin to low jonin in level, yet you still put to much chakra into the regular bunshin. It's all relative really. If you could, say, get a hold of this jutsu I've heard of, you should be able to do it with no problems. Do you want to give it a try?" _

_ Naruto nodded vigorously and Mizuki's grin widened. "Okay, here's the plan. Getting that technique is just the first step. You have to learn it, and that could take a while. The entire test involves getting the scroll that the jutsu is in, which should be marked as Kin and is large enough to need to be slung across the back, from the Hokage's Tower, learning the jutsu, and finally demonstrating the jutsu. While you're doing the first two, I'll be working on getting Iruka warmed up to the idea of the make-up. Between the two of us, you'll be able to pass that test with ease. Well, what are you waiting for? Get going! You need to start learning that jutsu as soon as possible!" Mizuki exclaimed, waving Naruto away. With an excited cry, Naruto leapt up and ran out of the academy courtyard, heading for his house. He was a smart kid, and knew that something as clearly difficult as stealing this scroll of kinjutsu from the Hokage's Tower would require deliberate and careful planning._

**End flashback**

Naruto continued to creep silently down the halls, occasionally checking doors. Coming to a stop in front of a nondescript door, he grinned. To a normal person, and even too many ninja, the door was completely ordinary, could lead to a janitor's closet or perhaps a small office, but Naruto wasn't most ninja. He could see the cleverly hidden seals in the wood of the door, and judging by the complexity of the seals, they were pretty high class security ones as well. Looking closer, he noticed something else that made him grin, his white teeth standing out in the otherwise dark hallway. 'Why the hell doesn't anybody ever realize that some people just won't be polite enough to use doors? I feel like I've been insulted for some reason.' Naruto thought as he double-checked what he had noticed: The security seals only covered the door and a few inches of the surrounding wall. The rest of the wall was completely seal-free, and therefore easy pickings. Almost laughing in giddiness, Naruto pulled a small tag from his belt. Fixing it to the wall, Naruto beamed happily at what was one of his greatest (in his mind) achievements. He called it the Acid Tag, something he had discovered while trying to make a more powerful paper bomb and this would be its first field test. Checking to be sure that it was securely fixed to the wall, Naruto stepped back and formed a one-handed seal, pouring some chakra into the tag, activating it and its effects. With a slight hissing sound, so quit that even Naruto's sensitive ears could barely hear it; the tag activated and melted a hole in the wall. Naruto looked at the hole critically. As expected, Naruto would fit, but it would be a bit of a tight squeeze. Doing just that, Naruto stood up and whistled. It truly was an impressive sight, worthy of even the most illiterate man's awe. There were literally thousands upon thousands of scrolls, ranging in size from scrolls that would fit into Naruto's hand to scrolls that would have fit quite comfortably on his back. The entire place was organized according to what branch of jutsu it fell under, then by what rank the jutsu held was, and finally alphabetized, and that was just the scrolls that held the jutsu's. There were many scrolls that merely contained lectures on advanced genjutsu, ninjutsu, and other forms of jutsu's. Naruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'Even if there were a thousand of me, I'd never be able to find it in the small amount of time that I have before someone notices that hole in the wall. Wait, didn't Mizuki say that the scroll was pretty damn big, that it needed to be slung across the back? I guess that narrows things down.' Running through the library, Naruto quickly gathered the largest scrolls in the library. Of these, there were pretty close to sixty. He was then able to quickly pare that number down to a more manageable fifteen by quickly tossing aside the scrolls that were lectures on various forms of theory. Looking at what remained; Naruto shrugged, and started to go through the pile. Tossing the rejects over his shoulder, Naruto steadily worked his way through the pile, stopping just once, though not because he found what he was looking for. Naruto stared dubiously at the scroll he was holding. 'There is just no way that something like this exists. There's just too much irony involved.' The scroll that he was holding was making Naruto's sense of irony go haywire. He read the scroll again just in case he had misread it. It still read **Kitsune Kuchiyose No Jutsu**. Fox Summoning Technique. 'This is either an elaborate prank that I'm about to fall for, or the makings of the most awesome screw you I could possibly give to the villagers.' Grinning, Naruto pulled out a storage scroll and sealed the contract into it. He'd figure out how to use it later. Maybe he'd ask Anko. Tucking the storage scroll into his vest, he looked through the rest of the scrolls present. Angrily looking at the last scroll, Naruto threw it away in disgust. "Damn it! Are you seriously telling me that there aren't any scrolls of any kind of kinjutsu in thi-" Naruto froze, and then almost slapped himself. The entire scroll was supposedly made up of forbidden jutsus right? Well, If her were Hokage, he would always want something that dangerous within his sight, or at least nearby, and where did the Hokage spend most of his time? In his office, doing the paperwork that ran the village. It was a bit of a no-brainer, really. Exiting the library, Naruto flitted silently to the top floor, and the Hokage's office. Without even once pausing, Naruto flung open the door, then tensed as he felt a slight chakra flare on the door. Turning, he spotted a security seal that was quickly fading. He only had a few minutes before someone came and caught him. Running over to the Hokage's desk, Naruto looked all over it, and inside the drawers as well. His haste was so great that his knee collided with the chair, and he slipped, taking the chair with him in an impossibly loud crash. Lying on his back, his head where the Hokage's knees normally were, Naruto cursed. Wedged into that cubbyhole was a large scroll, and like Mizuki had said, kin was emblazoned upon it. Grabbing it, Naruto yanked it free and made a hasty exit.

Running soundlessly through the empty streets of Konoha, Naruto did some quick thinking. 'Okay, this was always a possibility. No doubt there's somebody raising the alarm right now, making my home an unsafe place for training, so that means that Plan A is out. Plan B was for in case the jutsu needed to be done outside, in which case I would have gone to training ground twenty-five. In this situation though, I need to do Plan C. I guess all that means is that I have to sneak past the chunin gate guards. Easy-peasie, lemon-squeezie.'

Hurriedly sneaking out of the village, past the oblivious chunin guards, Naruto made his way to a nearby clearing. However, in his mind, he had already learned the jutsu, passed the make-up test, and was accepting the nomination to become Godaime Hokage. Ah, dreams of the young, there aren't any messy things like intervals of getting better, no, just instant gratification.

**Just after three in the morning.**

Banging is really such a nasty noise for anybody to have to wake up to, an Anko Mitarashi was no exception. Grumbling tiredly, she rolled out of bed and looked at the clock. What she saw had her wide awake as white-hot rage flowed through her. 'It's three in the fucking morning! If this isn't important, I might just go missing nin!' she thought as she quickly dressed. Opening the door, she was surprised to see Iruka standing in the doorway. Without saying a word, he shoved past her, literally barging into her crappy apartment, which she hadn't gotten around to moving out of yet. Iruka twisted around and grabbed Anko by her shoulders, shaking her like a rag-doll. "Where is Naruto? Where is he?" he almost screamed, his shaking becoming rougher. Anko noticed that he quitted down almost immediately and became far more respectful with a kunai pressed to his groin.

"Why are you looking for Naruto in the first place?" Anko asked, her tone of voice telling Iruka that she wasn't happy, and if his answer didn't appease her, he'd never be able to have kids. Not that he wanted any. You had to be crazy to want to have kids after becoming a teacher. Still, having the option available was rather nice, and so was the work getting the kids.

"Mizuki was just at my house. Apparently, somebody took the forbidden scroll just after midnight. The alarm is only just now being raised because even though the alarm seals on the Hokage's door went off, the chunin who arrived first couldn't find anything out of place, and declared it a freak accident. It wasn't until the Hokage went in about a quarter of an hour ago that he noticed it missing. Right now, Mizuki's telling everybody that it was Naruto, and he's nowhere to be found. If Mizuki's right, we have to get to him, before the seal holding the Kyuubi is damaged!" Iruka said hurriedly, then his eyes widened as he realized all that he had said.

Anko dropped her kunai. It was like some giant puzzle had been laid out, and Anko had just had the last piece placed, making the picture totally clear. Remembering the last few years with Naruto, the hate-laden looks that he just shrugged off, the number of times she'd seen him nursing a swollen jaw, or rubbing at a dark red hand mark, it all began to make total sense to her. 'Poor gaki.' she thought, resolving to murder anyone who ever laid a hand on him again. Picking up her kunai, Anko faced Iruka, ready to attack him. If he didn't answer her next question right, then for Naruto's sake, she'd kill him. "You never answered my question. Why are _you _looking for Naruto?" she asked, placing particular emphasis on the you.

Iruka's eyes widened as understanding flooded his mind. 'She's very protective of the boy.' he thought, before squaring his shoulders. "I only have Naruto's best interests at heart. However, others aren't so kind hearted. If someone other than me finds him, chances are they'll kill him. Now, you need to help me find Naruto, if only for his sake. Don't you care about him?"

Anko's eyes softened, and she relaxed, letting the kunai fall to her side. "In many ways, that little gaki is closer to me than anybody else is. He's the dearest person to me in all this world, and I'd do anything for him." She paused, thinking, then her eyes lit up. "C'mon. If we're going to find him, we need to go to his place."

"But I already checked there." said Iruka, hurrying after Anko as she left the apartment complex.

"That's because you were looking for him. Thing is, if Naruto was going to steal something , he'd have planned it out, in excruciating detail, with at least four back-up plans in case some aspect of the first failed. You should know this, after all, he is the best student in your tactics class." Anko said, her voice deadly serious.

Naruto was sprawled on his back, almost totally exhausted, the forbidden scroll serving as a slightly uncomfortable lump from its resting place, securely fastened to his back. "Yeah, I finally got it." he said, then he started to giggle. Hearing noises behind him, he leapt to his feet just in time to see Iruka and Anko crash through the trees. "Iruka-sensei! Did Mizuki-sensei already convince you to give me the make-up test?"

Iruka looked confused, bu6t Anko had already begun to act. Upon hearing Mizuki's name, she had begun to flash through several hand seals. Hearing a whistling sound coming from their right, she turned and activated the jutsu. "**Doton: Doryuu Geki!**" she cried, and a long stream of mud erupted from her mouth, which quickly erected itself into a sturdy earthen barrier that stopped the incoming weapons from hitting her and Iruka.

In the trees, Mizuki cursed. A surprise attack had been his only hope of an easy victory, but the little snake bitch was better than expected. Mizuki's mind went into overdrive, searching for an answer, and when he found one, he grinned maliciously.

Unbeknownst to him, Naruto cursed at exactly the same time. How could he have been so stupid, so blind to the obvious? However, now was not the time to dwell on that, at least that's what Naruto told himself as he took inventory of what tools he had. 'Okay, I have two Acid Tags, the storage scroll holding the Kitsune contract, three unused storage scrolls, and the scroll holding _that_. I don't want to use that yet, so lets keep it in reserve for now.' Naruto thought, catching a kunai that Ano, thinking him unarmed, had tossed him. "Anko, stay here with Naruto, make sure that Mizuki doesn't get the scroll. I'm gonna go look for him." Iruka ordered, then entered the trees. Moments later, there was the sound of metal striking metal, then a low cry of pain. Iruka came flying back into the clearing, hitting the ground hard before rolling to a stop just a few feet short of Naruto. Naruto reacted quickly, running over to see if his sensei was all right.

"Iruka-sensei!" he cried as her rolled him over, only to see Iruka open his eyes and smirk, the kunai hidden in his hand flashing for Naruto's throat. It never reached that far. A hand grabbed the back of Naruto's vest, flinging him across the clearing. Iruka continued with the thrust, the kunai plunging deep into Anko's side. Anko grabbed Iruka's hand as blood began to pour from the wound, her face twisted in pain.

Mizuki smirked, dispelling the henge around him as he did so. He ripped his kunai out of the snake bitch's side, punching her in the temple as he did so. He laughed as she collapsed, then turned his attention to the Kyuubi brat. Gripping his kunai tighter, he sneered at the boy. This was going to be pathetically easy.

Iruka dragged himself over the ground towards the clearing. Mizuki had surprised him with a well placed trap, and he had been badly hurt. Making it to the edge of the clearing, he saw that Anko was down and out, and Mizuki was closing in on Naruto. What happened next took his breath away.

Naruto was staring at Anko, her body lying prone on the clearing floor, and he felt a great rage descend upon him. Mizuki's laughter echoed across the clearing, only to be cut off as he was forced to dodge the kunai that Naruto had thrown his way. Mizuki looked Naruto's way, and the sight he saw chilled his blood. Naruto's normally cerulean eyes had turned a bloody crimson. "You hurt Anko-chan!" Naruto roared, the killing intent he was releasing crushing. "For that, I'm going to kill you!" Naruto's hands flew up and formed a single hand seal. "**Kage Bunshin No Jutsu**" Naruto cried, and with several flashes of smoke, twelve perfect doppelgangers appeared. Mizuki's eyes had time to widen before the thirteen Naruto's charged. At first, Mizuki was hard pressed, but the blows the clones managed to land were inconsequential, and he was able to dodge them all after the first few had been dispelled. Dispelling the last one, Mizuki turned and faced the real Naruto, who had collected Anko's unconscious body. Naruto smirked at him, then formed a one-handed sign. Mizuki felt an unholy burning erupt in his back, and then he knew no more.

Iruka watched in horrified disbelief as Mizuki literally melted, clothes and flesh just sloughing off before what was left collapsed into a jittering heap. Mizuki hadn't even had time to scream.

**Hokage's Tower 7:00 A.M.**

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the lone figure in front of his desk. He couldn't help but smile at the hiti-ate being proudly worn on Naruto's head. 'So, Naruto got an impromptu promotion to genin, huh?' Anko had reportedly been the one to give the boy the hiti-ate, which had originally been hers. Hiruzen's smile faded as he thought of the other two. Iruka would be on crutches for at least a week, and Anko was forbidden from any kind of strenuous exercise fore three. By then, her promotion to Tokubetsu jonin would be filed, and he'd have to pay her more. Naruto had been picked up just outside the village by Tsume and Hana Inuzuka, who had evidently been drawn by his cries for help. Hana had taken the two wounded chunin to the hospital, while Naruto had shown Tsume the sight of the battle, as well as Mizuki's grisly remains. The traitorous ninja had met a particularly gruesome end, by all accounts. From the reports, his chakra coils had been invaded by foreign chakra, which had given his blood a highly acidic nature, resulting in near immediate death. Hiruzen could only guess at what had caused that, as Naruto wasn't saying, nor was Iruka, though they both assured him that Anko had nothing to do with it. Hiruzen had his suspicions, but he'd grill Iruka about them later. His wandering eyes landed on Naruto, and the poor boy looked absolutely exhausted. It was no wonder really, since he had been up for a little over twenty-four hours. "Naruto, go home and get some sleep, got it?" Hiruzen said, his tone implying that it wasn't a suggestion. Naruto nodded and began to walk out. "Oh, and Naruto? Orientation is at nine. You're bottom of your class, but you've graduated." Hiruzen was rewarded with Naruto's excited yell as he left the Hokage's Tower.

Academy, 9:00 A.M.

Naruto walked into his orientation right on time, much to the disgust of Ino and Sakura, who didn't believe him when he said he had taken a make-up exam. To his intense relief, ten minutes later, Iruka came in on his new crutches, followed by Anko, who winked at Naruto, then sighed heavily, emphasizing her chest as she did so. Almost all the male nin, and some of the kunoichi, immediately sported nosebleeds. The only exceptions for the males were Naruto, who had seen her do far more provocative things, and Akamaru, who was literally a dog. "Okay, it's time for you lousy little brats to be sorted into your teams. I'll call off the names of the three people on the team, then I'll tell you who your sensei is. Pay attention, I don't want to have to do this again." Iruka shouted, and Anko, standing next to him, winced.

Naruto, much like Sasuke, ignored the proceedings until he heard his name called. "Team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha. Your jonin sensei will be Kakashi Hatake." Iruka announced, before he was interrupted by something creepily like a banshee's wail.

"Iruka-sensei, why is a great ninja like Sasuke-kun paired with someone like this little twit?" Sakura cried, pointing her finger accusingly at Naruto. Sasuke, the boy idol in question, rolled his eyes.

Anko glared at Sakura and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Iruka. "Sakura, genin teams are put together to balance out skills. The dead-last, in this case Naruto, is always paired with the best, in this case Sasuke, with the exact middle, which is you by the way, there to balance things out. It helps you all survive until you make chunin."

Sakura stubbornly held her ground. "I'm still twice the ninja he is. At least I won't get my comrades killed through my own stupidity!" Sakura sneered.

Naruto felt a flash of pain and shame as he remembered that that was what had almost happened just a few hours ago. Anko, seeing the flash of pain in his eyes, couldn't take it anymore. The little bitch needed to be taught a permanent lesson. The rest of the brand new genin didn't even realize what had happened. One second Sakura had been arguing with Iruka-sensei, the next, Naruto was holding a kunai, the tip less than an inch from the side of her throat. The only genin who had an idea of what had happened was Kiba, mainly because Akamaru told him the kunai was Anko's, and he wisely kept his mouth shut. Sakura fainted, causing Naruto to give Anko a reproachful look. Anko grinned sheepishly, and then kicked the ground apologetically as Iruka added his reproachful stare to Naruto's. The room was so shocked by what Naruto, a normally boisterous and scholarly student, had seemingly done, that there were no more complaints about the team selections.

One by one, the teams were collected by their respective senseis. Finally, it was just Team 7 who remained. Iruka and Anko had remained as well, Iruka to fill out some last-minute paperwork, while Anko remained for the hell of it, leaning against a wall and picking at her teeth with a kunai. Sasuke was brooding, while Sakura, recently returned to the land of the conscious, kept giving Naruto nervous looks. Naruto decided to take advantage of the situation. Pulling out a storage scroll, he walked over to Anko. "Hey, Anko-chan, you know the **Hebi Kuchiyose No Jutsu**, right?" Naruto asked, unrolling the storage scroll as he did so. Anko slipped the kunai up her sleeve, nodding her head as she did so. "Well, then can you help me figure out how to use this?" Naruto asked, unsealing the Kitsune contract.

Anko's eyes widened. 'Where the hell did the little gaki get a summoning contract, especially that one?' was her initial thought, then she almost burst out laughing. It was the biggest imaginable fuck you that someone like Naruto could possibly give to the villagers. She hoped she was there when he summoned the boss fox. Those dumb ass villagers would probably all crap themselves. Still grinning at the thought, she showed Naruto the required hand seals, then instructed him on how to sign the contract, chuckling every few seconds.

As Naruto finished putting his signature on the contract, a white haired, masked, shinobi who was spying on them through the cracked door smirked. It looked like he was going to have an interesting team, provided they passed his test the next day.

**Authors Note**

** Yo, people, just a little warning. I think the counter on my traffic page has broken, since my story has been set on alert by, like, thirty people, and the count hasn't gone up at all. So just a warning, I might just be reposting the whole story, so just look out for that. Also, the location of the Jonin Library is subterranean, located underneath the Hokage's Tower. What, you didn't think I'd try to squeeze something that obviously big into the tower itself, did you? That would be poor imagination on my part.**

_._


	4. Survival Training, With a Twist

**Hey people! I have to say that I never expected such an overwhelming response to my story, and so much of it was positive. That in mind, I would like to publically, in a way, apologize to Lady Dragon. I replied to her review when I was heavily irritated, and said something in anger that I cannot take back. I only hope that my criticism of her review does not lose me a fan. **

**In addition, some of you are wondering why Naruto, despite being a good student, was still his class's dead last. The answer is simple. I'm basing the ninja academy off basic military tests, which are based on a go/no go basis. That means that if you miss one thing, you fail it entirely. So, because Naruto couldn't do the bunshin, he was forced to take a make-up test. By that very nature, despite his exemplary class work, he was placed as the last in his class.**

**Finally, I mentioned Naruto as having the chakra control for water walking, but he still put too much chakra into the jutsu. This is because of the manga canon, which led me to believe that your average jonin has what could be referred to as a lake of chakra, while in the case of a jinchurriki, its more along the lines of a vast ocean. This means that while a jonin of Kakashi's level can use and maintain the Kage Bunshin, Naruto can use and maintain the Tajuu Kage Bunshin, the Kage Bunshin's bigger, meaner brother. The amount of chakra in question would be nearly impossible to imagine. Think of it like this. The medical jutsu's require a massive amount of chakra control. Based on canon and anime, I believe that Naruto would need that level of control before he can get the bunshin mastered. This means that in my story, Naruto will never make it to medical jutsu's because it would be impossible for him to get the control for it.**

**Now that that's out of the way, on with the fourth chapter!**

Hearing the door slide open, Naruto looked p to see an apparently cyclopean shinobi enter the room. He blinked at the man's strange appearance. 'Hmm, that white hair looks familiar. I wonder where I've seen it before.' Anko wasn't nearly as oblivious to the man's identity. ' So that's what Inu looks like behind that mask of his. At least, that's what his right eye looks like.'

Kakashi looked around the room, taking in the three genin and two chunin at a glance. He paid especially close attention to his would be future students. The brooding Sasuke, the nervous Sakura, and the ever-observant Naruto. 'This is going to be pretty interesting' he thought, then looked at Anko, who was watching him very intently. He couldn't prevent the cold sweat that broke out on the back of his head. 'I think she recognizes me. Damn this distinctive white hair. It's like a freaking target.' Kakashi rubbed the back of his head nervously before he looked at his prospective students. "I want to see all of you on the roof in five minutes." he said, then dived out the conveniently open window.

Sasuke stood and walked slowly to the classroom door, a love struck Sakura following behind him. Naruto couldn't help it. He was a thirteen year old boy, and he wanted to show off his skills to his sensei. He followed Kakashi out the window, surprising the cyclopean shinobi as he took the simple expedient of running up the side of the building.

Anko laughed at her young friends antics. The ever irrepressible Naruto was good for a few laughs. Still giggling slightly, her mirth was abruptly smothered by the memory of waking up in Naruto's arms. She felt a slight twinge in her chest, but shrugged it off, then dived out the window after Naruto. Hiding herself near the newly formed Team 7, she happily snooped on their conversation. A good kunoichi stayed in practice, after all.

Kakashi looked at what would maybe be his genin team. There was no end to the differences in the group. Naruto and Sakura were extreme opposites, one a total fan-girl, who had quite probably neglected her schooling too look at cute boys, and the other was a scholar with some very extreme talents that very few knew about. Sasuke was neither one nor the other. He was merely very observant, and was the only one who had noticed Anko sneaking up on them. Watching Sakura alternate between ogling Sasuke and glaring at Naruto, Kakashi felt a cold-sweat erupt on his forehead. 'The girl isn't the least bit serious.' he thought.

"Why don't we introduce ourselves to each other, sort of smooth things over. Use your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams. " Kakashi suggested, leaning on the railing of the roof.

"Well, why don't you start us out, show us how it's done." Sakura suggested, Naruto nodding his head in agreement while Sasuke continued to bore holes in the jonin's head with his stare.

"Hmm, okay. My name is Kakashi Hatake, I have no interest in telling you my likes or dislikes. Hobbies, hmm, I have no real dreams that I want you to know about." he said, a calm, thoughtful look in his eyes.

'So basically all he told them was his name.' Anko thought, barely able to keep herself from laughing at the irritation that was plain on all three genin's faces.

Evidently the three genin found nothing funny about the situation, judging by the enraged look on Sakura's face, the irritated snort that Naruto gave, and the subtle tightening of Sasuke's interlaced fingers. Looking at his genin team, Kakashi decided to give them a push start. "Hey, you, vest-boy, why don't you start us all off, huh? Show these two how you think I should have done it." he said, pointing at Naruto.

Naruto blinked, then narrowed his eyes at his sensei. "If I do, will you do it correctly?"

"Of course not." Kakashi replied joyfully.

Naruto rolled his eyes, but decided to do as he was told. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen of any kind, but like isn't strong enough to describe some other things. How about, I love fuinjutsu and kenjutsu, and I love Anko-chan. I dislike having to wait for ramen. My hobbies are practicing fuinjutsu and kenjutsu, and trying to convince Anko-chan to date me. My dream is to one day be the Hokage, thereby forcing the people of this village to respect me, and by my side will be Anko-chan as my wife!"

Kakashi's eyebrows rose higher and higher with each declaration. Then, under his mask, Kakashi grinned. This was such a golden opportunity to mess with the kid that he couldn't pass it up, even if Anko might kill the kid over it. "You said that you love three things, but which one do you love the most, and why."

"I love Anko-chan the most, because she's easily the most beautiful kunoichi in the entire world, but more than that, she's so kind and caring, and so sweet too. She's also the only person I've ever met willing to hurt others for my sake." Naruto replied without a moment's hesitation, and Kakashi was faintly disturbed by the sight of his pupils somehow becoming heart shaped. Naruto's expression suddenly blanked as he felt the coldest chill he had ever known run up his spine, take out a hammer and nail a sign saying soon to be deceased on his back. He slowly turned, and looked in Anko's direction.

Kakashi almost broke a few ribs holding in his laughter. Even Sakura, the most observationally clueless of the group, felt a tremor go through the air. Anko was extraordinarily pissed. Naruto's normally tanned face was whiter than a sheet of paper. "I think I may have said too much." he muttered feebly.

In her hiding place, Anko was beyond simply enraged. There was no word to describe the level of anger that she was feeling. 'That gaki is a dead man! Doesn't he know I have a reputation to keep? No way around it, I have to kill him in as gruesome a way as possible.' She didn't even notice that a part of her was giddy that he thought of her that way.

Kakashi finally got himself under enough control that he trusted himself to speak. To the kids, their teacher had merely been silent. They didn't even know he had set Naruto up. "Okay then, you next Pinky." he said, taking a slow, deep breathe.

Well, my name is Sakura Haruno, and my likes are," she broke off, her cheeks faintly pinking as she looked at Sasuke, "My dislikes are," again, she broke off, this time to stare nervously at Naruto, "and my dreams for the future are to beat Ino-pig and gain the undivided attention of," once again, she broke off, this time her blush was so strong that her hair actually curled from the force of it.

'Great, she's the ultimate fan girl who worships the ground that Sasuke walks on, and is so terrified of Naruto that she can't even say that she doesn't like him. Now, that won't cause any problems for me in the future, now will it?' Kakashi thought sarcastically. "Okay then, your turn, broody boy."

Sasuke bristled slightly at being called broody boy, but decided that it would be a waste of his time to get angry over it. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There's nothing that I really like, and plenty of things that I dislike. I don't have any hobbies, and what I have isn't so much a dream as it is an ambition, a driving ambition to kill a certain man, and restore my clan to its former glory."

'Well, overall we have a fan girl Haruno, an avenger Uchiha, and whatever Naruto is. Like I thought, this is going to be an interesting experience. How these three are supposed to work together is beyond me.' Kakashi thought, and then looked over at where Anko was hiding. 'Of course, my problems might be solved if Anko actually kills Naruto. Then I wouldn't have to do anything but send the other two back to the academy.' That thought in mind, Kakashi decided to burst the three genin's respective bubbles. "Tomorrow, we're going to be doing a special kind of survival training. " Unable to hold it in anymore, Kakashi started laughing.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, his impending doom making him far more observant of his last minutes alive. "What's so funny Kakashi-sensei?"

"You three are really going to flip when I tell you this. What I think is so funny is that you three aren't official ninja of Konoha."

"But we passed the academy final!" Sakura nearly screamed, making Naruto rub his sensitive ears.

"Oh, that was just to find if you had the skills to become ninja. Tomorrows training is to find if you have the required mindset. If you don't pass, you will be sent back to receive further training. The funniest part of this is that of the 27 students of your graduating class, only nine will continue on to be official genin. There is a 66.6 percent chance of failure for this training. It's highly likely that you will all fail." he replied, his voice amused. Taking out a sheaf of paper, he gave each of them one. "These will give you all the necessary instructions. Be at the training ground at 7:00 A.M., and remember, don't be late." That said, he jumped off the roof

After briefly glancing at the paper with the directions, Sasuke crumpled the paper before leaving the roof, Sakura once again following him. Naruto sighed, then took what he was sure was going to be his last breathe of the sweet Konoha air, then turned to face his demise. Anko was walking toward him, the smile on her face absolutely terrifying. Naruto closed his eyes. This was going to really hurt.

Naruto's unconscious body was dragged into his small apartment, his limp form supported by Anko. He had been right; it had really hurt. After beating the boy into unconsciousness, Anko had been entirely true to form by carrying him home. Depositing him on his bed, she looked around his apartment, noting the many diagrams for seals. Her gaze quickly drifted back to her friend's body. Noting that he was quite bloody, she smiled. She had been rather free with a kunai, and had cut his face up pretty badly. Unable to stop herself, she leaned over him, and licked the blood from his cheek. She immediately realized two things: One, the kid had a crazy healing ability, as his face was once again unmarred. Two, he tasted amazing. His blood was unreal, almost literally thrumming with the promise of the power that he would one day wield. Taking a step back, hand pressed to her mouth, a rosy blush spread across her face. She quickly scribbled a not for Naruto, then left before she did something she'd regret, like molest the unconscious teenager. He should at least be awake for that; otherwise it would just be wrong.

**11:00 P.M.**

Naruto groggily sat up, his entire body aching and sore. Groaning, he slowly swung his legs off of his bed, and then gingerly stood. He continued to groan as he stretched every aching muscle. Feeling hungry, he stumbled over to his cupboard, opening it and grabbing the closest Cup Ramen. Looking at it, he saw the note that Anko had left and grinned. 'Anko really knows me far too well, but I don't think that's a bad thing when she's the woman I'm going to one day marry.' Opening the note, he hurriedly read it, though there was no light, he had no problem.

Gaki,

Hey, sorry about beating the snot out of you, it's just that I have an image to protect. That being said, I've distributed pictures of the beating throughout the ranks of the Interrogations Division. I wasn't sure if you would care or not, so I have a hint that I guarantee will help you pass tomorrows training. Here it is: If you don't team up with the other two, you stand no chance of completing the hidden, and necessary, objective.

Naruto read through the note two more times as he cooked the ramen. He happily munched on it as he thought of what the note had said. 'So, there's going to be a hidden objective to complete, and without it we fail? Hmm, how am I going to swing this one? Hopefully I can convince the other two to work with me, but until I know what the actual objective is, I can't make any kind of plan. Meh, Anko knew this would happen. She gave me just enough information to make my chances of passing better, but in reality, everything lies on the other two!' Shrugging, Naruto finished his ramen with a generous slurp, and then went back to bed. He'd worry about things in the morning.

**7:00 A.M., training ground 33**

Sakura and Sasuke sat at the training ground, one ogling the other while the one being ogled starred into the distance. Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, Sakura swung her head to the edge of the training ground, where Naruto could be seen walking towards them. Sasuke, having seen him just before, narrowed his eyes at the sight of the ninjato slung across his back. 'Taking into consideration what he said about kenjutsu yesterday, I can guess that he's probably a fairly adequate kenjutsuist. Good.' he thought. Sasuke had seen the damage that a mediocre kenjutsuist could do. He had seen the damage on the bodies of his own family.

"Naruto, what the hell do you think you're doing with a sword!" Sakura screeched. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. 'She's so unobservant. She wonders why guys don't want to go out with her. Two words girl: decibel control.' Sasuke thought, his eyes partially widening as he took a short trip down memory lane. Every time Sakura screeched, Sasuke could hear the screams of his dying kinsman.

Naruto gazed at Sakura blankly for a moment, then reached over his shoulder and drew the sword. Sakura flinched violently, thinking that he was going to attack her, then realized that he was just showing them the blade.

It was a breathtaking work of art, and it seemed that it would be more at home above a mantelpiece then being used as a battlefield implement by some rookie ninja. Throughout the entire length of the blade were detailed engravings of snakes, and at the base of the blade was a stylized engraving of the word 'Hebi'.

Naruto grinned. "For the last three years I've been training in kenjutsu. This right here is Hebi. Anko-chan named it, and then I did the engravings. There are a lot of surprises in this baby, and you might get to see them today."

Naruto neglected to mention his blades twin, but that was because he was embarrassed about it. His ultimate weapon, and he had trouble using it. It was why he had made Hebi in the first place, as a stepping stone to it. Looking around, Naruto's face became covered in confusion. "Hey, where's Kakashi-sensei?"

**5 hours later**

Kakashi arrived to see the three post-academy students glaring at him, and from the way Naruto was fingering his sword hilt, he needed to move things right along before they started seriously contemplating violence. While listening to Sakura screech about how late he was, and how lame his excuse(He'd had homework to do) was, he calmly set an alarm clock on a nearby boulder, along with two lunchboxes. Taking out two bells, he tied them to his belt just as she was winding down her tirade.

"Well, that was…impressive. Some of the threats if I was late again were quite original, and deserve high marks in imagination, but now down to business. It is now noon. You have until 12:30 to relieve me of these two bells, one for each of you. You may have noticed that there are only two. Whichever one of you fails to get a bell doesn't get lunch today, and will be tied up while the others eat lunch in front of them. That one will them be sent back to the academy. Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" Kakashi ordered.

All three of the teenagers immediately disappeared, hiding themselves quite effectively. In his hiding spot in a small dip in the ground, surrounded by waist high grass, Naruto frowned. 'Even if he holds back as much as three quarters of his skill and power, individually, we won't last more than a few minutes each. No, there's something else at work here, just like Anko-chan said. I guess that means I need to take her advice.' With that in mind, Naruto made several doppelgangers, and sent them to fight his sensei while he found the others.

Kakashi sighed with disappointment. 'There's always one who thinks that he can take me on his own, but I didn't think he would be the one.' he thought, looking at The form of Naruto as he slowly drew his sword. Kakashi reached into his pouch for his book, and Naruto swung his sword. With a few poofs, four kunai were suddenly flying at Kakashi. His eye widened, and instead of his book, he pulled out his own kunai and deflected them. 'This is going to be a little harder than I thought.' The next minute was a flurry of deflecting Naruto's projectiles, eighteen kunai in all, when he suddenly stopped swinging that sword of his, and settled into a neutral stance, sword at the ready. Kakashi was about to charge forward when he felt something grab his ankle and start to pull him under the ground. In an instant, Naruto ran forward and delivered a devastating uppercut to Kakashi's jaw. The combined downward momentum of Kakashi and the strength of Naruto's arm would have been enough to send him flying, but all that was flying through the air was a log.

Kakashi rubbed his jaw lightly. He hadn't been able to fully dodge the blow with his kwarimi. '**Shinjuu Zanshu No Jutsu**, huh? Definitely wasn't expecting that. Such a clever usage as well. He very nearly got me, but for some reason he was holding back a little bit, just enough for me to get hurt, but not fully escape. What kind of game is he playing?' Shaking his head, Kakashi dove back to where Naruto and a clone were standing. He would have to forego reading if Naruto was going to keep surprising him like that.

Sakura watched Naruto fighting Kakashi, her jaw hanging open as Naruto seemed to be tentatively holding his own, and with several solid body clones helping him. 'Where did he learn how to do that?' she wondered, then almost screamed when a hand grabbed her shoulder. Turning her head, she was greeted with the sight of yet another Naruto, who wordlessly jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating that he wanted her to go in that direction. Suspiciously, Sakura complied, disappearing into the trees, her last look at that Naruto showing him leaping into the fight, then subsequently disappearing in a puff of smoke as he was kicked in the stomach by Kakashi.

Not quite a minute later, she came to a small clearing were Sasuke and Naruto were waiting. Not allowing either her or Sasuke to speak, Naruto immediately began to outline a plan. " Okay, here's what we know. Kakashi is a jonin, and even if he's holding back, he's still a far better ninja than the rest of us. Our only possible option if we want to have even the slightest chance of success is to work together, as a team."

Sasuke nodded. It made perfect sense to him, and unlike Sakura, he remembered that it was Shikamaru and Naruto who had dominated the tactical classes, both in construction of strategy and its execution. Sakura thought it made sense, but one thing nagged at her. "Naruto, even if we work together, whose gonna get the bells? There's only two, and whoever doesn't get one goes back to the academy."

Naruto shook his head. I think that that's just a diversion, something to distract us so that we don't work together. The key to Konoha's military success has always been its ninja's teamwork. For a test to appear that so blatantly undermines that, it has to be a diversion from some hidden objective. It's actually simplistically brilliant. By making us work alone, Kakashi-sensei ensures himself victory. By us defying that presumption and working together, we stand a long shot at victory, both in the obvious objective, and the hidden one. Besides, even if he does send us back, I'll go through it again, and I'll still become Hokage."

Sakura wasn't reassured. "What if you're wrong about the training objective?"

This time Naruto's voice was sharp with impatience and irritation. "If we succeed, I'll give you two the bells. That way, even if I'm wrong, you two will go on. Now, here's the plan." Naruto spoke hurriedly, laying out his plan and the other two's part in it, down to the last detail. Soon, the three genin blurred in the direction of their sensei. Naruto fervently hoped that he was right. He really didn't want to have to go through the academy again. He had barely survived the first time, and he was terrified of a possible second time. That, and Anko would never let him live it down.

Kakashi sighed as yet another clone was dispelled. It was the tenth one, and he was going to have several bruises by the end of the day. They kept on surprising him. Once he had resorted to throwing his weapons, he had found out that the storage seals on the blade worked in reverse, absorbing his weapons, and allowing Naruto to use them as new ammo. That had been a surprise that had almost succeeded in doing some serious damage to him. Then, the clones had introduced light forms of genjutsu. There had been a couple times when he had almost lost, because the genjutsu they used only altered their position by a few inches. In a fight with a skilled swordsman, a few inches was all that was needed. Thankfully, that had been the last clone.

Hearing running feet, he turned, two more Naruto's, as well as Sasuke and Sakura, bearing down on him. He sighed, then pulled out his last kunai and attacked. The two Naruto's darted to the side, one of them going straight for his blind spot while Sasuke and Sakura pulled kunai of their own. Kakashi jumped back, then attacked his biggest threat: The Naruto headed for his blind spot.

The Naruto swung his sword at Kakashi, who deflected it, making sure it was well away from his body when he did. He didn't want any more surprises. After he was sure nothing was going to happen, he stepped in and dealt a punishing blow to his solar plexus, only for it to disappear in a puff of smoke that temporarily blinded him. Unable to spare any time to rub at his stinging eye, he leapt straight to the side, avoiding Sakura and Sasuke as they attacked his former position.

Punching Sasuke and backhanding Sakura, he twisted and countered the last Naruto's sword, then punched him in the jaw, throwing the young ninja onto his back. When this one didn't explode in a cloud of smoke, Kakashi allowed himself to relax, looking with pride at three that he was sure would be his students. They had worked fairly well together, even though they had no chance of success and extreme time constraints. He closed his eye, then took a deep breathe.

For the second time that day, he felt something seize his ankle and pull him into the ground. Opening his eye, he saw yet another Naruto emerge from the ground in front of him, tossing something to the real Naruto, who in turn tossed whatever it was to Sasuke and Sakura. Breaking free of the ground, Kakashi prepared to charge, but stopped when he heard a jingling sound. He noticed the Sakura and Sasuke both had a bell, and were jingling the happily. The real Naruto didn't really look happy, more like he was resolved for something.

Kakashi dusted himself off, glaring at the blond genin, while inwardly he rejoiced. 'Not only did they display exemplary teamwork for the situation, albeit a bit stilted, they actually succeeded in the mission objective. When it comes to students, I hit the jackpot.' Looking harder at the three teenagers, he gave Naruto a murderous glare. "You don't have a bell Naruto. Do you understand what that means?" Not giving him time to make any kind of reply, Kakashi went on. "You all pass."

Seeing the surprised looks on Sakura and Sasuke's faces, as well as the relived look on Naruto's, Kakashi gave his signature eye-smile. "The objective of this training was never really about getting the bells, but about how you got them. If you attacked and were defeated one by one, you failed. You three attacked as a team, and actually succeeded in the set goals. You are all going to be exceptional ninja, and I would be honored to be your sensei, and proud to call you may students.

The three newly official genin grinned at each other, then two began to scream and shout in happiness, while one gave a slight smile. Kakashi looked at them, no less elated himself, his eye smiling joyfully. He was going to have an interesting genin team.

**So, what did you all think?**

**Couple more things.**

**Shinjuu Zanshu No Jutsu: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique**

**D-Rank earth element jutsu. Something of this level would be easily attainable for Naruto, and remember, I said that Anko taught him a few jutsu. Thing is, that makes me feel a bit cheap, so this will be the only one she taught him. **

**Oh, and I ran across a question about how Mizuki beat two other chunin so easily. Here's how: He beat Iruka with a surprise attack, taking out his legs, and Anko was beaten because of Naruto's mistake. Doesn't matter how good you are, if you have an intelligent opponent, you can't allow any mistakes.**


	5. The Bridge Builder

**I've never been as amazed as I was the day I posted chapter four. Five thousand hits in just one day! Compared to my other fics, well, it's more than they have put together. I am happy to say that I have gained the forgiveness of Lady Dragon. **

**!READ!**

**I noticed that I didn't put a detailed description of Hebi in the last chapter, so here it is.**

**HEBI**

**overall length of sword: two feet ten inches**

**length of blade: two feet**

**owner: Naruto Uzumaki, low adept level kenjutsuist **

**Description: Snake engravings run up and down the length of this incredible blade, but these only serve as tools for deception. Hidden amongst the engravings are several seals. **

**In the tang of the blade, hidden by the hilt, is a chakra reservoir seal connected to a chakra strengthening seal. The more chakra in the reservoir, the stronger the blade, though repeated blows wear down the amount of chakra, and it needs to be refilled after every intense battle.**

**Camouflaged by the snake engravings at three spots on both sides of the blade are modified storage seals that can hold several ninja tools of any kind. Despite their small size, they can hold far more than contemporary storage seals of the same size, and require no hand seals to use. By pumping chakra into the blade, Naruto can absorb and launch entire volleys of weapons. Absorption and release require different frequencies of chakra, so Naruto cannot launch weapons while absorbing others and vice versa. **

**There we go, now on with the story.**

'The last two months have all but flown by' Kakashi mused as he watched his rookie genin team corner and capture with comparative ease Tora, the infamous escapee cat. The three had taken to training like fish to water. Kakashi mainly worked on teamwork exercises with the whole group, though on weekends he would leave the two boys to their own devices as he worked exclusively with Sakura, the weakest on the team.

The young pinkette had a lot of work ahead of her if she was to catch up with the other two, in fact, she would need to work like a slave for many months to come if she was to have any chance of closing the distance between her and her two teammates. Kakashi had to admit, the difference between her skills and Naruto and Sasuke's was impressive. One of them was the Rookie of the Year and an exceptionally strong genin, while the other would have, if said rank existed, the rank of Tokubetsu Chunin for his kenjutsu and fuinjutsu skills.

Over the two months of this regimen, Sasuke had somewhat stagnated as he practiced only what he already knew, honing what skills he had to a razor edge. Kakashi couldn't help but approve. The single mastered skill could defeat any number of half-known ones. Naruto had trained hard in what skills he already had as well, but he had also done a lot of experimentation in seals as well as continuing his lessons with Hayate, which had grown to encompass his entire weekend.

Sakura was like a completely different person. She was still a fan girl, but had learned to do so on her own time. Her skills had improved by leaps and bounds, and Kakashi felt that she now had the makings to become one of the strongest kunoichi in the village. Kakashi's team had been doing quite well, with only one hiccup along the way.

_Flashback_

_Kakashi had never been so furious. It only irked him more to know that what was infuriating him was a taste of his own medicine. He had taken the trouble to show up on time for the teams training session, and Naruto was three hours late. His anger gradually morphed into worry as the day went by without Naruto showing up. Sighing, he called a halt to the training session and he and his team set out in search of the irritating blonde. His worry continued to deepen as they could find no trace of their errant teammate. All of Naruto's usual haunts had been searched, and Sasuke reported that Naruto must not have been home as he hadn't answered his door._

_Kakashi groaned, then set out to check Naruto's himself. He knew the boy, and he would have left some sort of message behind. Casually forcing Naruto's door open, he let himself and his two remaining students in. While Sasuke and Sakura gaped at the intricate seals and their attached notes, some of which were on the ceiling, Kakashi found a short and simple note with his name on it._

_Kakashi-Sensei:_

_Anko's been hurt. I've gone to help her out._

_-Naruto_

_end flashback_

The whole story had come clean shortly thereafter. Going to the Hokage, the old man had assigned Tsume Inuzuka to track the boy down, and a day and a half later she had returned with Naruto right next to her and Anko clinging weakly to her back.

Evidently the village council had issued the young Tokubetsu Jonin an S-Rank mission to hunt down and kill a missing nin from Kumogakure, Kibiso Niigata. As the dutiful kunoichi that she was, she had left almost immediately, only stopping to let Naruto paint a pair of seals onto her back, which was a common ritual the two friends used, Naruto's way of letting her know he had her back. However, the seals were anything but decorative. One was a panic seal that alerted Naruto if her vitals dropped steeply, and the other was a tracking seal that would lead Naruto right to her.

Anko had successfully tracked down the dangerous nuke-nin, but had been badly injured in the extended battle. Even so, she had managed to successfully dispatch Kibiso, and then began to make her way to Konoha, but had collapsed just inside the Land of Fire's borders. That was where Naruto had found her seven hours later, on the forest floor, whereupon he had immediately administered what first aid he could. The new genin's actions had very likely saved the life of the slightly insane kunoichi.

When the story had come out once they arrived back, the Hokage had been furious. He had warned the village council that if something like that ever happened again, they would be collectively executed as accomplices to attempted murder. The only one who had come out of that affair happy had been Anko. Once she was out of the hospital she'd crowed up and down the streets of Konoha that she was the mighty Anko Mitarashi, Snake Mistress of Konoha. That was what she was listed as in Kumo's new Bingo book. Evidently some Cloud hunter-nin had seen her battle with Kibiso and the Reikage had been impressed.

Kakashi sighed yet again as he came out of his reflections. Anko was now fully mission capable, but was taking a vacation of sorts. As his squad was about to be issued yet another D-Rank mission, he stepped forward. "Lord Hokage, my team has shown me that it is fully capable of a higher class mission than weeding somebody's garden. They excel in teamwork and their individual skills no doubt rate them as some of the better genin in Konoha. I was wondering if you might have a C-Rank or two lying around somewhere?"

Sarutobi blinked. He hadn't expected Kakashi to ask for a C-Rank mission in just two months, but he grinned. If Kakashi thought that they were ready, chances were that they had been ready for over a month. The man had a horrible sense of time. Looking over the C-Ranks, he mentally crossed out one after another. 'Ah, here we are. Simple escort and protection. Nothing to worry about but some random bandits, perfect fodder for inexperienced genin. Even if they freeze up, it would still be a useful experience, and Kakashi can deal with that problem if it arises.'

"Iruka, if you would be so kind as to escort Tazuna-san in?" Hiruzen whispered in the ear of his aid.

Iruka's eyebrows appeared to make a bid for freedom as they climbed higher than seemed possible on his forehead. Shaking his head, the scarred chunin hurriedly did as the Hokage asked. He left the room, returning shortly after with a man who was an obvious drunkard, if the bottle of sake in his hand was anything to go by. "What is this, some kind of joke? I ask for some serious ninja to protect me while I build the bestest bridge ever, and you give me a bunch of snot-nosed brats who don't even know how to wipe their asses? Is this a village of professional ninja or not?" the man said, a slight slur easily heard in his words.

At this point a master of reading body language would have noticed the subtle tightening of every muscle in Naruto and Sasuke's bodies as they fought to stop themselves from attacking their employer. A two year old would have seen the anger all over Sakura's face. The flaming eyes from hell kind of gave it away.

"Tazuna-san, I assure you that these three are more than capable of taking care of anything that comes your way. Besides, Kakashi is an elite ninja." Hiruzen was quick to reassure the man of the team's abilities.

"Whatever. Say what you will, this lot still looks pretty useless to me." Tazuna said as he turned to leave, stumbling as he did so.

"You three, report to the village gates in an hour packed and ready to go. Be prepared for an extended stay. As you heard, we are protecting him until his bridge is completed, and that might take a while." Kakashi told his team as his single visible eye read the mission parameters.

'So, it looks like we're going to the Land of Waves, huh? I've been hearing rumors that the region has recently been destabilized. I guess that we'll find out for sure for ourselves. Lucky us.' Kakashi thought, wondering if it would cause problems for him and his team.

One hour later, 3:00 P.M.

All three genin were waiting patiently at the gates when Tazuna and Kakashi came into view. Tazuna mentally reevaluated the young blonde ninja when he saw the sword slung across the boys back, along with the travel pack. 'Maybe this kid won't be as useless as I thought he would be.' Tazuna thought. Looking at Naruto's smile lines, Tazuna wasn't sure if he was right or wrong yet.

"You three had better be worth the money that I paid to hire you. Well, what are you waiting for? Don't lounge around; it's time to get moving." Tazuna said grumpily, turning on his heel and starting on the path with a purposeful walk.

"Hey Gramps." said a voice that Tazuna hadn't heard before. Turning, Tazuna saw the short blonde glaring at him. "You continue to devalue me and my teammates, and it's making me sick. I'm required to protect you during this mission, but immediately after I can give you the ass-kicking you richly deserve." Naruto said, fingering the hilt of his ninjato as he did.

"So you would beat up an old man?" Tazuna mocked, trying to get some sort of rise out of the boy.

"I'm thirteen, so it evens out in the age department. As for physically fitness, well, it's not my fault that you've let yourself go in your old age." Naruto retorted, and was pleased to see the old mans face turn an interesting shade of purple.

"Uh, Naruto, it's kind of bad for the village's reputation if you kill Tazuna here, even if it is after the mission is officially over." Kakashi reminded his adolescent student. At the word kill, Tazuna's face went from purple to an interesting shade of gray.

"I never said I would kill him Kakashi-sensei. I'm just going to put him in the hospital, that's all." Naruto replied offhandedly as he walked past Tazuna. A few steps past the bridge-builder he stopped then turned. "Well, do we have a mission to begin or not?" At those words, the others scrambled past him. Naruto calmly watched the others walk by, and then followed them. He wasn't going to admit that he didn't know where to go. The three genin soon fell into a formation of sorts around the old drunkard, with Kakashi bringing up the rear, his face buried in his book.

The walk continued for over four hours in total silence, though Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were talking in Konoha sign language. Sakura finally decided to ask their sensei for an answer that neither of the boys seemed to have. "Kakashi-sensei, how likely are we to run into other ninja on this mission?" Sakura asked, glancing back at her teacher as did so. At the word 'ninja' Tazuna momentarily tensed, something that didn't escape Naruto's eyes. He wondered about it for a moment, and then dismissed it as completely unimportant.

Kakashi glanced up from his book. "Well, there are ninja all over the world, but encountering them on this mission would be highly unlikely. This is only a low C-Rank mission, and enemy combatants like ninja or samurai would have this marked as a high B-Rank at least. Mislabeling the difficulty of a mission is almost impossible, in fact, the odds are astronomically against it." As he said this, Kakashi took notice of a puddle on the ground, then returned to his book.

The group had only taken a few steps past the puddle when a figure silently rose from within it. With astonishing speed and grace, part of the figure leapt off, revealing it to be a separate man, connected to the other with a claw and chain. With practiced ease, the man in the air wrapped the chain around Kakashi Hatake, who had his nose buried in his book.

Hearing noises, his three students turned in time to witness their teacher's grisly end, pieces of his body raining down onto the road. "One down." muttered the one who had flown through the air.

"Two down." muttered the other as the pair simultaneously charged Naruto.

However, Naruto was no easy prey, and the two had badly underestimated him. He immediately flashed through a set of hand seals that he knew by heart. "**Shinjuu Zanshu No Jutsu!**" he half-yelled, immediately sinking into the ground, much to the surprise of his attackers. They didn't have much time to wonder where he had disappeared to as their young opponent quickly turned the tables on them.

With a startled yelp, one of the two was yanked neck deep into the ground, the clawed hand connecting him to his partner now a tool to keep him from running. Naruto erupted from the ground in front of the trapped man with Hebi drawn, but instead of attacking the helpless man in front of him, he attacked the bigger threat: the downed man's accomplice. As he charged, his opponent struggled, his claw and chain limiting his mobility. Setting himself, he frantically slashed at Naruto, who ducked the blow before quite calmly running the man through. Ripping his blade free, he twisted back to the man he had trapped.

An enraged roar broke form his remaining opponents lips as he broke Naruto's jutsu. He exploded from the ground, anger and grief twisting his face. Gaining his feet, he began to run towards Naruto, only to suddenly halt. Sakura and Sasuke had flashed next to him, and the man's last living thought was that he had forgotten about the other two as one stabbed him in the heart while the other slit his throat.

"Huh." The three turned towards the sound, weapons at the ready for another enemy, only to see their sensei stepping from the tree line, not a scratch on him. "I wasn't expecting you three to be so… ruthless." he said.

His eyes widening, Tazuna turned back to where he had seen Kakashi die, only to have the shredded remains of a log meet his eyes. His eyes widening further, he looked at Kakashi again. Meanwhile, Sakura's gaze was locked on the man whose throat she had slit. The kunai in her hand slipped from numb fingers, and her teammates and sensei turned at the harsh clattering sound to see her shaking like a leaf. Kakashi quickly moved forward to console the girl. This was her first real brush with death, even an enemy's death.

'It doesn't look like the other two need my help. Sasuke I was expecting. He was forced to see his entire family die several times over. Naruto comes as a surprise. Still, at least he doesn't look too happy about it.' Kakashi thought, and it was true: Naruto's face had taken on a decidedly dead look.

Tazuna was staring at the dead bodies of their two attackers, and he jumped when Kakashi spoke again. "What I want to know is who these guys were after? Their the Demon Brothers of the Bloody Mist, and have quite a reputation as killers. Their services wouldn't have been cheap. So again the question is raised, who was their target? Unfortunately, you three were far to proficient for me to get a real read on it.." Kakashi said aloud, talking more to himself than to his team.

"I…I think I know who they were after." the old bridge builder said, his head lowered. Raising his eyes, he saw that he had the undivided attention of all four ninja. "I think that they were after me." Tazuna continued.

After a moment of collective silence, Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. "Explain yourself."

Tazuna slumped, making it seem as he was a puppet whose strings were being slowly cut. "Okay, well, it goes like this. As all of you know, I come from the Land of Waves, which is a series of islands close to each other, accessible only by water. Recently my land has been taken over in all but name by a man named Gatou."

Kakashi started slightly. "As in the wealthiest man in the world Gatou?"

"That's the one. He an extremely successful shipping magnate, but that's all on the surface. Underneath that veneer he's corrupt and evil. This man makes a demon look like a sweet angel. He seized control of my islands shipping industry and has an iron grip on my people's lives." Tazuna continued, not noticing Naruto's slight flinch at the mention of demons.

"Why would he take control of you land?" Naruto asked, confused.

Tazuna shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Maybe because we're vulnerable militarily. Other than the Daimyo's personal guard, we have no soldiers. Economically, we have no way of trading with the mainland for the things that we need because Gatou controls all shipping."

"That would make sense, but don't tell me your people didn't put up any kind of fight?" Naruto said, interrupting him again.

Tazuna glared at the short blonde. "At first it was really slow. He bought some land, built his own warehouses, then his competitors began to experience accidents, or were just outright bought. By the time we realized what was going on, it was too late to stop him. My family is more stubborn than most, and we stood against him. I began to build my bridge between our land and the Land of Fire while my son-in-law Kaiza began to rally the morale of a nearby village." Here the old man paused, and for more than just a breath of air.

'Oh shit. Something tells me I'm not going to like what happened next.' Naruto thought, looking at the old man.

Tazuna took a moment to take a hold of himself before continuing. "Gatou didn't take to kindly to that. He had Kaiza executed publicly, right in front of my grandson. I immediately halted construction, then left for Konoha a week later, once Gatou's attention had wondered. He must have gotten wind of the fact that I've hired shinobi."

Hearing of Kaiza's death, Naruto winced. 'I was right, I didn't like what happened next.'

Kakashi crossed his arms. "You should have told us this from the beginning. This mission would have been at least a B-Rank, and you would have gotten better ninja."

"Yeah, and it would have been more expensive as well. Nearly all of my money is tied up in the bridge at the moment, as well as a good chunk of the Daimyo's. The Land of Waves isn't a rich country to begin with, and with Gatou's coming we've only gotten poorer. We honestly couldn't afford a higher ranked mission." Tazuna countered.

Kakashi shrugged. "Well, to put it bluntly, because you lied about the mission parameters we're no longer beholden to you to complete this mission. However, I will leave it up to my team to decide, since they did so well here. Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, do you guys want to go back or go on?"

Sakura looked a little indecisive, and looked towards Sasuke for her answer. "We should go on." said the last loyal Uchiha, with Sakura nodding, indicating that she agreed.

Naruto stood, sheathing Hebi, which he had been cleaning since the end of the fight as he did. "Sasuke is right. Regardless of whether or not we were lied to about the mission and all the dangers it contained, it would look extremely bad for Konoha's reputation if we were to drop it with no real signs of danger above a couple chunin level enemy nin. However, we also shouldn't let that distract us from the fact that three of us are genin, and at any time we may end find ourselves in over our heads. We should send a message back to Konoha for reinforcements. If we camp here tonight, whoever the Hokage sends will be able to catch up and have time to rest before we leave in the morning."

Kakashi was glad of his face-mask, for it hid his smile of pride in his former sensei's son. 'He's turning into quite the little strategist, and not just in battlefield situations, but politics as well. Minato-sensei, your son is going to make a fine Hokage one day.' he thought, then his smile was wiped form his face as he envisioned the amount of paperwork he was going to have to do because of this. 'Well, at least it will give me a legitimate excuse to be late for a few days.'

"If that's how you guys want to run this, then we'll set up camp, but about a mile down the road. You guys start heading that way. I'll take care of the bodies and send the message, then catch up to you. Naruto's right, whatever reinforcement we receive should arrive with plenty of time to rest before we start out tomorrow." Kakashi said out loud, his eye smiling merrily.

With nods of acknowledgement, the three genin started down the road, with Tazuna in the middle of the group. Once they were out of sight Kakashi let his smile fade. Looking at the two bodies, Kakashi used a quick katon to dispose of them. Normally the bodies would have been sent to their research department, but he didn't have the scrolls to seal them into. It was a field mistake that he would never let happen again. Once again the shinobi world had surprised him, reminding him that anything could happen on any kind of mission.

That done, Kakashi sat himself down and began to write out a detailed report on their mission so far, as well as his decision to carry on with the mission, as well as his request for reinforcements. As soon as he was done, he summoned his trusted nin-dog, Pakkun. The dog took one look at Kakashi and began to grumble. "You woke me from my nap, Kakashi. I thought we agreed that you wouldn't do that anymore." he said. Kakashi almost laughed. An irritated look on a small pug's face is priceless, after all.

"Yes, well, you know I wouldn't call you if it wasn't important." Kakashi said sheepishly, hoping that the small dog wouldn't bite him.

Pakkun grunted, not believing the cyclopean ninja at all. "You better have called me here for something important. What is it you want me to do?"

"Oh, just carry this mission report back to the Hokage for me." Kakashi said brightly, holding the message scroll out to Pakkun.

Pakkun stared blankly at Kakashi for a full minute, then took the scroll and ran off, muttering under his breath the entire time. He knew better than to interfere with the smooth operation of a mission.

Kakashi made his way back to his genin team, where he found that they had prepared a comfortable enough camp, the rolls of blankets for themselves and Tazuna already arrayed around the fire, over which it was Sasuke, surprisingly, doing the cooking. As he got closer Kakashi could hear him muttering under his breath about how girls should know how to cook something better than an inedible and burnt mass of something. Sakura, for her part, was red –faced with embarrassment. Smiling to himself, Kakashi pulled out his book and began to read. Sometimes, it was good to be the sensei.

Three hours later

Naruto leapt to his feet, Hebi drawn and in his hand as one of the perimeter seals went off, giving him a light electrical shock, flashing him from sound asleep to alert and ready to fight in an instant. Looking towards the remains of the fire, he saw Kakashi standing and putting his book away. Seeing Naruto awake, Kakashi pointed past him. Turning his head, Naruto was greeted with the sight of his viollette friend entering the campsite.

"Hey gaki, how you been doing?" Anko said brightly as a she walked past the shocked blonde. Getting to Kakashi, she saluted smartly, somehow still managing to seem like a smartass. "Anko Mitarashi, reinforcements for Team 7 for the Bridge Builder mission reporting for duty!"

Naruto blinked, and then sheathed Hebi as he lay down to get some more sleep. He might trust his teammates with his life, but in an unsure situation he'd choose Anko and her unpredictability every time. He'd have more fun that way. Just as he was about to drift off, he was woken by a sharp poke to his forehead. Opening his eyes, he saw Anko kneeling over him. "Hey, I forgot to bring my blankets. Do you mind if I sleep with you?" Anko purred seductively.

Naruto's eyes widened and he jerked his head to the side. On the other side of the smoldering fire Kakashi watched the rather impressive geyser of blood erupt from Naruto nose and listened to Anko's chiming laughter. 'Sometimes it's hard to tell who's seducing who in that relationship.' he thought, watching Anko slip into the blankets with the now unconscious Naruto. There was going to be yet another geyser of blood in the morning, he was sure of it.

**A.N.**

**Well people, what do you think? For any of you sticklers against perversion out there, Anko's sleeping with Naruto, not having sex with him. Two very different things. Trust is an issue with Anko, and since Naruto's the only one she really trusts there, she'd naturally want him fairly close. Now, why don't you do me a favor and tell me what you guys think by pushing that little review button. Go on, do it! You know you want to!**


	6. Authors Note

**The next chapter of The Sealed Blade Of The Spiral Ninja has run into a slight bump, but worry not my readers. I will be taking your advice into account and include a previously in this next chapter so you all don't have to read the whole thing, but by no means should that stop you if you want to. This AN is for the explicit purpose of telling you all of the new poll on my profile, as well as two new challenges on that page as well. I will have trouble finishing the Wave Arc until I get some real numbers in the feedback for my poll, which is who should I expand the pairing of my story to include, Isaribi or a femHaku. Don't like femHaku, vote Isaribi, and vice-versa. You can also choose the both option if you so desire. The pairing will expand, but I couldn't decide between the two, so I want you loyal readers to help me.**

**Also, look at the two challenges, an PM me if you take them up!**


	7. Swordsman From The Mist

**I have decided that instead of expanding the pairing on this, I will use the results of the poll as the pairing for my next Naruto story. However, sometime in the next month expect an Isaribi/Naruto one-shot to appear. Now, how about we go onto the story?**

**Something I forgot to mention about Hebi. Fully loaded, it contains thirty kunai.**

_Previously_

_ Team Seven sets out for the Land of Waves in their first C-Rank mission. The group is ambushed by the Demon Brothers, who appear to kill Kakashi. The three genin make quick work of them, and the twisted story of Waves desperate need for the bridge that Tazuna is building comes out. Team Seven decides to carry on, but requests back-up. Their back up takes the form of seventeen-year-old Anko Mitarashi, Tokubetsu Jonin and Snake Mistress of Konohagakure._

_Now_

Naruto had mixed feelings about how the day had begun for him. Sure, waking up with the girl of your dreams happily snuggled into your chest may seem to be the ambition of all living men, but sometimes dreams are highly overrated. This is especially true if you know this girl to have a fetish for making vivid threats of castration, and the drive to come through on the offer. To Naruto, the situation was made far worse by the fact that his thirteen-year old hormones were acting up, giving him an early morning friend that he really didn't want to lose.

Naruto had tried to slip out of the blanket without waking Anko, he really did, but one doesn't get to the rank of tokubetsu jonin without being a light sleeper. The beautiful girl's offhand comment that it was far too early, not to mention possibly illegal, to play with his 'chibi-Naruto' had Naruto reaching new heights of embarrassment. When she further commented that if they weren't in the company of other people she would have done it anyway, Naruto did something he'd only ever seen Hinata Hyuuga do: He passed out from pure embarrassment, much to the amusement of Tazuna and the rest of Team Seven.

Now, sitting in a boat that was making its way to the shores of the Land of Waves, Naruto stole constant glances at Anko, something that didn't escape the notice of Tazuna. "While we're waiting, why don't you tell me what's going on between you and the blonde twerp over there?" he asked Anko, making sure to keep his voice hushed.

Anko looked at him for a moment, and then shrugged. "Naruto is sort of in love with me, or at least he thinks he is. I keep trying to tell him that I'm too old for him, but he never listens to me. At first it was really endearing, but now, I just don't know. He still looks at me the same way, absolutely filled with adoration. To be honest, I've never really had anybody look at me that way before, and for so long too. Naruto has never looked at me with anything other than adoration, not once in the three years that I've known him. I suppose you could say that I was his first friend."

That caught Tazuna by surprise. "Why not? I know that brat's a little scary at times, but the rest of the time he seems like a pretty decent person."

Anko nodded in agreement. "Oh, yeah, Naruto is probably the nicest person you'll ever meet. He gets his sadistic qualities from me, but don't be fooled by it all. He's that nicest person because he wants to be seen, to be recognized. He grew up an orphan, and he's been living on his own since he was four. No one to care for him, ignored by the rest of the village, he had to fend for himself. How he even lived up until the point where I met him is a mystery, but that loneliness has made him absolutely loyal to a fault. I speak from personal experience when I say that he won't hesitate to kill for the people he cares for. He only recently got some more friends, a guy named Kiba Inuzuka and a girl named Hinata Hyuuga. Other than them, me, and the Hokage, that boy is entirely alone in the world." Anko smiled faintly at a particular memory. "Hinata actually had a crush on him at one point, and she's just the cutest little thing, but it was more along the lines of idolization than anything else. Naruto had just befriended Kiba when he found out about Hinata's crush, and he actually set her up on a date with Kiba. Now those two are a happy little chibi couple."

Tazuna looked even closer at Anko, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "I may not be a ninja, and some sort of expert on people, but I've been around a long time. I've seen a lot of things, done some stuff. Let's just say I've been around the block. So when I say that even I can hear the relief in your voice when you're talking about how he turned down another girl's affection, you'd best believe I'm not lying. If that doesn't help you, then think about it this way: If that girl idolized him as much as you say she did, and was actually pretty cute, then it's clear to me that since he still turned down that opportunity, then he is never going to settle for anything but you. If you really want him to stop pursuing you, then you'll eventually have to break his heart."

Anko's head turned so fast that her you would have thought her neck had snapped. The expression on her face was almost comical, her eyes wide and mouth agape. It really would have been if her eyes hadn't been filled with horror. "I can't do that! Doing something like that would absolutely destroy him! Even if he didn't kill himself, he'd still be a shadow of what he once was!"

At this, Tazuna grinned. "If you care that much about him now, then your future with him is set in stone. Feelings only grow with time. This is especially true of positive feelings. I'd be willing to bet that by the time that boy is fifteen, you'll be head over heels in love with him."

Tazuna had expected for her to snap at him, maybe even threaten his life. What did happen took him completely by surprise. As the boat touched the shore of Wave, he saw a flash of raw fear fly across her face, as though the prospect of her loving somebody was the worst thing that could happen. How was he to know that the one man she had ever loved and respected had betrayed her, and she had never trusted anybody else enough to love them?

Anko was paralyzed with fear, something that hadn't happened since Orochimaru had placed the Curse Seal onto her, and betrayed her every notion of the man. 'Me, in love with gaki?' she thought, and almost flinched as more fear washed through her. The scary thing was that the older man was right; emotions did grow stronger over time. It was why she hated Orochimaru more now than she ever had before, and that hate grew stronger daily. She had noticed her feelings for Naruto changing, but she hadn't paid it much attention. It was the most terrifying thing she could think of, and momentarily stunned, she did what she did best: fall back on immaturity. She stuck her tongue out at the man and leapt from the boat.

As they walked towards Tazuna's house, Anko kept a little distance between her and Naruto, something that he couldn't help but notice. 'What's wrong with Anko? I haven't seen her like this, well, ever. It's like she's scared of something. No, that can't be right. Anko, scared? Something like that would signify the end of the world.' Naruto thought, his mind more concentrated on Anko then their environment.

Anko's nerves were tightly wound, and unlike Naruto, she was hyper-aware of everything around them. Hearing a very slight rustling in the bushes, she acted on pure instinct, throwing a kunai at high speed into the bush, something she regretted almost immediately. 'I hope there isn't a kid on there or something. Please be an animal, please be an animal.' Walking over to the bush in question, she parted the shrubbery to find a white rabbit, but no sign of her kunai. Connecting the dots, she turned to the team she was backing up. "Everyone be on alert, we're not alone."

In the trees not to far away, a hunter-nin pulled a kunai out of his leg with a slight groan of pain. Straightening, he wilted slightly under the glare from the man beside him, who was dressed oddly, with no real shirt, a pair of vertically striped pants and a ridiculously huge sword on his back. "You fool; you managed to give away our presence!" the man seethed, his mouth hidden behind a set of combat bandages.

The hunter-nin's response was slightly muffled by the mask he was wearing. "Forgive me. It will never happen again. I will accept any punishment you decide."

The sword-bearing man grunted. "We'll see about that later. As of now, hang back and observe the battle. Hopefully I can get rid of a few of them, if not; it will be up to you to analyze their abilities. A ninja of my caliber against five of unknown skill is dangerous, or rather, suicidal. You know what to do if it looks like I'm losing." With a short bow, the hunter-nin disappeared in a swirl of shunshin. Hefting his blade, the man glared at the oncoming party of five ninja and one civilian. With a slight hesitation, the man threw his sword down across the path, hoping to kill at least one when he did.

Due to Anko's warning, the entire group had been moving on high alert, scouring the nearby landscape for enemies. The two higher ranked ninja were on point, with the three genin in a forward triangle formation around Tazuna. When the zanbatou came whirling across the path toward them, all but two dove to the ground, Sakura dragging Tazuna with her. The other two leapt over the giant sword, and these two were predictably Anko and Naruto. Anko did it because if an attack followed it, she'd be temporarily helpless while getting up from the ground, and Naruto had, in part, been trained by her. Drawing Hebi while in mid-air, the moment one foot touched the ground; he pivoted and sent a full volley of six kunai after the zanbatou, which had buried itself in the side of a tree. This had the effect of surprising the man who had appeared on the elongated handle.

Over the combat bandages around his face, the mans eyes widened in surprise. He had been expecting them to be momentarily disoriented, and he especially hadn't expected for one of the _kids_ to be the one to respond so immediately. When two more kunai joined the six, compliments of Anko, he responded with reflexes honed in dozens of battles. Allowing himself to fall off the handle, he grabbed it as he fell. Quickly setting himself against the tree trunk, he wrenched his blade from it and landed on the ground, zanbatou at the ready. Hearing the sound of multiple impacts, he didn't need to look to see that the kunai had buried themselves in the tree where he had been less than a second ago. This team now had his undivided attention, and he realized that he recognized two of them.

Kakashi took a moment to climb to his feet his eye darting between Anko and his student. He was proud of Naruto's obvious skill, and was happy that he had Anko with his group. Against an opponent of this skill level, his students, with the slight possibility of Naruto, would need some help defending themselves. Scrutinizing their opponent for a moment, Kakashi resisted the urge to sigh and utter the most famed of the Nara sayings. However, he couldn't quite stop himself from thinking it. 'Troublesome.'

"So, you were hired by Gatou along with the Demon Brothers, Zabuza Momochi?" Kakashi asked their now identified attacker.

Anko gave a visible start when she heard the name, clearly not expecting the name. "Do you mean Zabuza, as in the Demon of the Bloody Mist Zabuza?" she asked, pulling out two more kunai from her sleeves and licking their edges. Smiling sweetly at their enemy, she gave her kunai another lick, this one making her intentions very clear to Zabuza. For his part, Zabuza repressed a shudder. He'd met some bloodthirsty people, hell, he was considered one himself, but something told him that this girl would _literally_ drink his blood given the chance.

Kakashi sighed inwardly at the slightly eccentric girls actions, but nodded his head. "Yeah, that's the one. He's also one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He was the first one to defect, and the rest followed him soon after, usually after rather heinous crimes. Zabuza's was staging a failed attempt to overthrow the Mizukage. He's considered an A-rank missing nin, and isn't somebody to play games against."

Naruto heard the new information, and filed it away for future reference. Hayate had told him that if he ever ran into one of the Seven Swordsmen, under no circumstances was he to challenge them to a kenjutsu battle. All seven were recognized as some of the best swordsmen to ever live, and were made even more dangerous by the fact that they only resorted to pure swordplay as a last resort, refusing to use their best skill as a crutch. Hayate had said that if he got a chance to observe how one of them used their blade, to take it. The experience would be one of a lifetime. 'So that's what a Swordsman of the Mist looks like. Quite fearsome, and he obviously knows how to use that blade effectively, despite its incredible size and obvious weight. They may really deserve their station of grandeur as the greatest swordsmen in the world." Naruto though, unconsciously tightening his grip on his swords hilt.

Zabuza's laughter filled the clearing, sending a cold shill down the backs of everyone present. "Well, I can't help but say that I'm flattered that the famous Copy Ninja Kakashi _and_ the newly Christened Snake Mistress of Konoha Anko Mitarashi know my name and reputation. It's always gives me such a warm felling to be recognized by the ones I'm about to kill. For some reason they fear me so much more." On the outside, Zabuza was quite confidant, but inside he was beginning to regret starting something that he probably couldn't finish.

'How the hell did that old man afford the protection of Kakashi, an A-Rank and Anko, a B-Rank ninja? Not to mention those three kids. The pinky doesn't look to impressive, for that matter, neither does the black haired boy, but if their on the same team as blondie, they aren't to be underestimated. Just what have I gotten myself into?' Zabuza thought, releasing his killing intent as he did so.

The effect of the KI he was releasing was immediately seen on the three younger ninja. Naruto wasn't as badly affected by it, considering how pissed Anko could be sometimes, but it was far worse than anything he had ever felt. Seeing Sasuke about to cut into his wrist, Naruto grabbed his hand. "Don't you have something more to do with you life than killing yourself, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his eyes now fixed on Zabuza. Sasuke straightened, nodding his thanks to Naruto, and leveled his own rage at Zabuza.

Kakashi reached up and raised his headband fully to his forehead, revealing to his students for the first time his left eye. This eye was different though, not the same color as his other eye. The eye revealed was red, with three black tomoe swirling in it. Sasuke gasped at the sight. "Anko, I want you to stay back and make sure that he doesn't go for the genin or Tazuna. I'll take care of Zabuza."

Anko seemed to stiffen slightly, looking far from happy with her orders, but she complied in the end. Moving towards the others, she took a position directly in front of them. Sasuke, meanwhile, was muttering to himself. "How can he have a Sharingan? specially one that's fully matured?"

Zabuza glared at Kakashi, while inwardly he gave a sigh of relief. 'Thank Kami for guys with big egos. Kakashi won't be a pushover, but its better than taking both him, Anko, and the genin at once. I may not even need Haku to pull me out of here.

Deciding it was time to get the show on the road, Zabuza flashed through a couple hand seals. "**Kirigakure No Jutsu!" **he cried. And almost instantly an impossibly thick mist settled down on the battleground.

Kakashi looked around desperately, searching for where Zabuza could have gone, but the thick fog seemed to foil his every attempt. Suddenly, on pure instinct, Kakashi ducked, and Zabuza's blade flashed through where his head had been. Drawing a kunai, he twisted and rammed it into Zabuza's stomach, then jumped back as Zabuza burst into a large amount of water. 'It was a Mizu Bunshin!' he thought, and before he could look for the real one, he was cleaved in half from behind.

Zabuza grinned, thinking he'd won, only to see Kakashi dissolve into a pool of water. 'Impossible! How could he have copied it in this mist?' he thought, then felt his throat being cut from behind.

Kakashi held in a grunt of frustration. 'Damn it! Where the hell is the real one? We can't keep playing this cat and mouse game of killing each others bunshins!' Unfortunately, Kakashi and Zabuza were forced to do just that, killing each other's clones, until Zabuza decided to break the monotony.

With a suddenness that was heart stopping, Zabuza suddenly appeared in the middle of Anko's group. With a heartless laugh, he swung his blade at Tazuna, only for Anko and Naruto to block it, and Sasuke and Sakura to come at his sides. With a curse, he jumped away, but his plan had worked. Laughing, he ducked as Kakashi attempted to stab him in the back of the neck, then twisted hitting him with the zanbatou's elongated hilt.

The impact was brutal, knocking the air out of Kakashi and sending him flying into the nearby river. With a wicked grin, Zabuza shunshined over to him.

Coughing, Kakashi struggled to his feet on the surface of the water, his entire body dripping wet. 'This water, it shouldn't be this heavy. Something's wrong!' he thought, then he felt a presence behind him.\

"**Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu**." intoned a cold voice behind him, making Kakashi attempt to whirl around and face his opponent, but it was already to late.

With a gasp, Kakashi was enveloped in a sphere of icy cold water that restricted his movements, making it impossible for him to perform hand seals. Grinning at his captured prey, Zabuza was almost literally preening himself. After all, it was far harder to capture a foe alive than it was to kill them, and this _was_ the Sharingan Kakashi. Looking back towards the shore, he grinned, though it was fairly hard to tell under his face wraps. "So sorry it took me so long to get to you, Snake Mistress, but Kakashi's copying of my mizu bunshin threw me off a bit. Still, now you get to play."

Anko gave a predatory smirk. "Aww, it's so sweet of you to invite me to play with you! My last playing partner died so suddenly, and he didn't even say goodbye when he died. Hopefully you'll last longer." she said as she licked her paired kunai, eyes glimmering slightly.

"Well, I hope you have room for one more player. My last partner died to, and besides, I've always found tow on one to be so much more fun." Naruto drawled, then turned to his teammates. "Sakura, Sasuke, I want you two to take back Tazuna about a half-mile. Once you get there, if you don't hear from us in five minutes, clear out and race for Konoha, got it?"

A vein began to pulse on Sakura's forehead, and she opened he mouth to say something, no doubt about how he shouldn't be ordering Sasuke around, but Anko was quick to head her off. Not only would it be bothersome if she started shrieking, but not even Anko wanted to inflict that voice on her enemies. Well, maybe Orochimaru, but definitely not this Zabuza guy. "Quit Sakura. Now isn't the time for arguing, but getting orders and obeying them. Your team leader has spoken, and I'm backing him up. Get the hell out of here!"

Sakura almost opened her mouth to speak again, probably something about how Sasuke was the team leader, not Naruto, but one look at Anko was enough to shut her up. This wasn't some nice sensei, but a battle hardened kunoichi getting ready to fight to the death. She wasn't going to listen to a word Sakura said.

Grumbling under her breathe, Sakura seized Tazuna's hand and began to lead him away from the battleground. Sasuke turned to go as well, but hung back a moment more. "Naruto, are you sure you two can handle this guy? I mean, he did capture Kakashi-sensei.." Sasuke asked his blonde teammate. Seeing Naruto's confidant nod, he gave his usual arrogant smirk. "Well then, next time invite me to 'play' as well. You see, I had to share my last partner, and it wasn't to satisfying for me. Maybe going solo will be more fun?" That said, the raven haired boy walked into the forest.

Looking after him, Anko gave a humorless laugh. "Oh, I like him! He even knows how to play the game!" Naruto just shook his head at his irrepressible best friends…unique, behaviour.

"Well, as sickeningly sweet as that moment was, with all the team bonding and whatnot, I guess if it's going to be two on one I need some back-up. If you two want to fight me, you'll need to get through these guys first!" Zabuza said, then he formed a single hand jutsu, and twelve more mizu bunshin formed on the water and walked onto shore.

Anko gave a sideways glance at her companion. "Gaki, please tell me you have a plan, and I didn't just inadvertently manage to get you killed."

Naruto shrugged, whirling Hebi as he did. "It's currently a work in progress, but hey, I think it'll work. Step One: Even the odds. " That said, he sheathed Hebi, then made his favorite cross sign. "**Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"** Naruto shouted, and over thirty Naruto's appeared. Drawing Hebi again, he raised it, then gave a downward slash. Like well trained puppies, the clones charged soundlessly into battle with the water clones, and the silence was soon filled with the sounds of steel striking steel, punctuated by the occasional tearing of cloth and the puff or splash as one of the clones bit the dust. Looking at Anko, Naruto gave a small grin. "Now on to step 2!" he exclaimed.

Anko looked at him curiously. "What's step two?"

"Rescue Kakashi." Naruto deadpanned, the gave a wicked grin. "Anko, when you get the chance, use your Snake Hand. I trust that you'll know when and how to use it." Anko wasn't really reassured, but she decided to go with it.

Gripping Hebi in both hands, Naruto gave a nod to Anko before darting into the melee in front of him. His Shadow clones were taking a beating, while Zabuza was down four water clones. Breaking through the chaotic mask, Naruto ran up to the edge of the water. Once he reached the edge, Naruto released three full volleys of kunai from his sword, followed immediately after by a single kunai, this one aimed at the arm imprisoning Kakashi.

Zabuza managed to deflect the majority of them with his Kubikiri Houcho, but the final one broke through and hit its target. With a muffled curse of pain, Zabuza couldn't maintain his jutsu, and it collapsed on itself. Unfortunately for the proud shinobi, everything seemed to go down from there.

From her place on the shoreline, Anko saw her chance and took it. "**Seneijashu**!" she cried, and from her sleeve a half-dozen black snakes surged forth, wrapping themselves around the startled man. With a hard yank of her arm, Anko sent Zabuza flying into the side of a tree with enough force to crack the thick trunk.

Shaking, the man barely managed to pull himself to his feet as he glared at his foes. Naruto, seeing that Anko and the newly freed Kakashi had the situation well in hand, he went to face the water clones. Said water clones had decimated his shadow clones, causing almost thirty casualties while losing only three of their number. Reaching up, Zabuza ripped Naruto's kunai out of his arm, then hefted his executioner's blade yet again. He knew he had no chance against the both of them, but he charged anyways. There was such a thing as luck, and he could only hope that it would be to his advantage.

Sadly for Zabuza, this was not to be. As the three exchanged blows at a speed that would have left all but the elite of the ninja world behind, I quickly became clear that this was a battle that Zabuza couldn't win, something set in stone when Zabuza received a kick to the jaw from Anko, sending him flying back into the same tree as before, further damaging it.

Anko and Kakashi were joined by Naruto, who had just dispatched the last water clone. Looking at the man, they knew he was beaten. He was shaking all over, bloodied and bruised, and his mask had deep red spots where the mouth would be. "I guess you three are just to much for me. Your all good, I'll give you that, but I am not going down without a fight." Zabuza roared, then charged for a final time. His charge was prematurely interrupted when two senbon appeared to spontaneously sprout from his neck. With a last, muffled, exclamation, Zabuza fell to the ground, apparently dead.

The three Konoha-nin froze, and then a figure shunshined in front of them, dressed as a hunter-nin from Kiri. The clothing of choice was unnecessarily baggy, and a mask was worn, making telling the nin's gender all but impossible.

"You're a hunter-nin from Kiri, aren't you?" Kakashi asked, trying to be polite as he slid his headband back to it's original position.

The hunter-nin nodded. "Indeed. I would like to thank you for drastically weakening Zabuza. It would have been quite impossible for me to battle him alone with any chance of survival. The original plan was to wait for reinforcement from Kirigakure, then apprehend the criminal Zabuza Momochi. However, your battle with him presented an opportunity that was far to good to pass up." the hunter-nin said, voice neutral. It seemed that unless the hunter-nin told them, it would be impossible to tell his/her gender.

Naruto ran his eyes over the hunter's uniform, spotting the tell-tale signs of blood on the hunter-nin's leg, but in the end dismissing it as unimportant.

With a quick nod of farewell, the hunter-nin picked up Zabuza's body, along with his zanbatou, and vanished in a swirl of shunshin. "Damn." Naruto muttered, then sighed. "Kakashi, Anko, I sent a few shadow clones to locate and retrieve the others, but we have a serious problem here." he said, stalking around the battlefield and retrieving his used kunai.

Kakashi began to sag, the strain that using the Sharingan eye put on his own body becoming evident. Had Anko not been there to catch him, he would have fallen hard and likely hurt himself. "What the hell do you mean we have a problem?" Anko ground out, her smaller frame absolutely dwarfed by Kakashi's larger body.

"It's part of basic shinobi theory and practice, Anko-chan. Hunter-nin are supposed to dispose of the body on sight, usually by rapid cremation. Based on the fact that that hunter took Zabuza's body away, what does that tell you we missed?" Naruto asked, finding the last kunai. Anko thought about it, and her eyes unconsciously widened. Seeing this, Naruto nodded. "That's right. The hunter-nin was Zabuza's ally, and Zabuza is out there somewhere, gathering his strength for a retry." Naruto said, smiling grimly at the blood on the blade.

_Three miles away_

Pulling carefully, the hunter-nin removed the two senbon lodged in Zabuza's neck, and the larger man jerked awake. "Do you really have to be so rough Haku?"

Haku reached up and removed the mask, revealing the face of a downright beautiful young boy. "My apologies, Zabuza-sama, but you were in imminent danger of dying, and I didn't have time to pick a different target.

Taking a deep breath, the young boy continued. "Zabuza-sama, I think we should abandon this mission altogether. If it were just Kakashi and Anko, we would be able to deal with them, but with the others, I worry."

Zabuza couldn't help but give a pained laugh. "Don't tell me your afraid of a few little genin Haku?"

Haku shook his head. "It's not that I am afraid, I am merely being cautious. The one genin, the blonde, he would prove to be a fearsome foe. He seems to be capable of being a one-man army, and appears to be a kenjutsuist of passing skill. This worries me as to how good his teammates are, as you know Konoha likes to balance the skills of their team out, so for all we know that other two could be just as good. Zabuza-sama, we should at least think things through before we carry on. A loss next time would be fatal."

Zabuza closed his eyes. "I will think on this."

Haku bowed from his position kneeling at Zabuza's side. "That is all that I ask, Zabuza-sama."


	8. Scars of the Past

Previously

_En Route to The Land of Waves, Naruto & Co are ambushed by the criminal Zabuza Momochi. In the ensuing battle, Zabuza drastically overestimated his abilities, and was quickly defeated. When his death seemed imminent, Zabuza was rescued by his accomplice, and now gathers his strength, preparing to strike again._

Now

Getting the exhausted Kakashi and the rest of the team to Tazuna's home was fairly easy compared to the events earlier in the day, and by the next morning Kakashi was decidedly chipper and fully recovered from his bout of miner chakra exhaustion, a fact proven when he cheerily dragged Sasuke and Sakura from their beds the next morning. Both of the genin thought that they preferred it when their sensei was late as the man led them to a nearby clearing, eye-smiling the entire time.

The two were surprised when they found that Naruto and Anko were already in the clearing, and had already been working quite hard, judging by the sweat covering the duo's faces. "How long have you two been out here?" Sakura asked tentatively.

Naruto gave his customary grin before replying. "Oh, just a couple of hours. Me and Anko were out here before the sun came up."

Anko gave her own, more predatory, smirk. "We actually just finished, so I'm going to leave the gaki here with you guys while I guard Tazuna." Walking off, she turned back and waved at Naruto. "See ya later, gaki!"

Naruto shook his head at her. "Will you please stop calling me that! I've never been a gaki! (**Gaki: meaning a spoiled child or brat**) The joke got old after the first time you said it!"

Kakashi shook his head, never even bothering to look up his beloved Icha Icha. "Well, I guess that means it's time to train the three of you. Today we will be concentrating on tree climbing."

This confused Sakura, and she was quick to voice her question. "Kakashi-sensei, how on earth is climbing a tree supposed to be considered training?"

"When it's done ninja style." Was the reply given by Naruto, who, Sakura couldn't help but notice, was calmly walking up the side of a nearby tree, much to Sasuke and Sakura's envy. Being able to do that looked _cool._

Kakashi sighed. "Well Naruto, it's fairly obvious that you already know this exercise. Judging by the ease your doing it with, I'd say you're a master of it."

Naruto nodded from his new position hanging upside down on one of the larger branches. " Yeah, I leaned it a couple years ago. I even have the water walking exercise down. Anko taught me."

"Well then, what exactly are you going to do while I'm teaching these two? You might as well train since Anko can handle herself when it comes to guarding Tazuna." Kakashi replied.

"You do have a point Kakashi-sensei. I suppose I'll just work on my kenjutsu. You need to practice constantly if you want to get better. If I get bored doing that, there's always the fuinjutsu projects that I brought with me. I can always finish them. Seriously though, don't worry about me Kakashi-sensei, I have plenty of things to do." Naruto said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Kakashi looked at his student in pride. 'If you could only see him now sensei. He's going to go far.'

As the rest of the week went by, Naruto and Anko would switch out on guarding Tazuna while Kakashi trained the other two to try and improve their chances of living through another encounter with Zabuza and his as yet unidentified accomplice. On the days when he was with his team Naruto would often train in kenjutsu until he dropped, literally. On more than one occasion, Anko would go out to find him unconscious in the clearing.

As for when he was in Tazuna's home, he would work on a sealing project complex enough that Kakashi, a sealing expert, couldn't understand it. He tried on more than one occasion to get Naruto to open up about it, but all the blonde teenager would do was grin evilly. It quickly became clear to Kakashi that there was no way in hell he was going to talk about his 'project', and Kakashi soon left it alone.

As for Sasuke and Sakura, the two of them improved quickly, with Sakura getting the tree walking exercise down in just a few minutes, followed by Sasuke on the evening of their second day. The two were now practicing to try and make it instinctual, though Kakashi was wondering whether or not he should teach them water walking.

Anko quickly grew quite fond of Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, and the two could often be seen talking to one another or cooking the rest of the group dinner. Tsunami, for her part, treated Anko as family, something that rarely happened to the snake-wielder. When Tazuna told the story of Kaiza, and how brave he had been, Anko led the sobbing Tsunami to her room, there to comfort her until she went to sleep.

For the entire team and its slightly eccentric back-up, despite the generally depressing atmosphere of the village and the looming threat of Zabuza, the stay was quite comfortable, even enjoyable. The only real problem was Inari, Tsunami's son. Having seen his beloved step-father executed in front of the rest of the village had robbed the boy of any hope for the future, something that broke his family's heart to see. He firmly believed that the ninja didn't have any right to be in Wave, and whenever he saw one of the ninja he would glare at them, despite his mother's scolding on how to properly treat guests. This all came to a head five days into the stay.

Naruto and the rest of the Konoha nin were sitting down to dinner, for the most part lost in happy conversation. Granted, most of the conversation was between Naruto and Anko, but they had managed to draw a few quips from the others, including Sasuke. However, all conversation ceased as a pair of hands slammed into the table, drawing all attention to Inari. Inari was kneeling, his head bowed and shoulders trembling in anger as tears of rage streamed down his face. "What are you all so happy for? Don't you realize your all going to die? Nobody can beat Gato, he's too strong!"

Naruto blinked. "You say he's strong, but why should we give up and be little cowards like you?"

Inari became even angrier. " What the hell do you know about it? What do any of you know about suffering? " he screamed, and Kakashi and Anko tensed, hoping the little brat would shut his mouth before one of the two orphaned genins snapped and did it for him. Anko could already feel some KI leaking from Naruto, and Sasuke didn't seem far behind.

Inari stood, pointing his finger at Naruto. "What do you know about going hungry for days on end, watching people you've known your entire life be beaten in front of you, or seeing those you care for die? You all know nothing of suffering! You come from a village where you're no doubt safe and cozy every single day of your lives.!" Anko was really starting to worry now, as Naruto was trembling with barely suppressed rage, and the KI he was leaking was beginning to make the civilians sweat. It was a wonder that Inari hadn't noticed it yet "You should all just leave! Nobody wants you here, and you're going to die anyway, so just go! The people who Wave don't want any help from people who can't understand suffering!" Inari screamed.

He drew in another breathe to continue his rant, but was abruptly cut off as a hand lashed out and grabbed him before hurling him bodily across the room and into a wall. The impact with the wall stunned him for a moment, and he lay slumped against the wall for a few seconds. He started to get up when he felt an uncomfortable pricking sensation in his chest. Looking up, the eight year old boy nearly wet himself when he saw Naruto, his face twisted into an expression of pure bloodlust, eyes flashing between sapphire and crimson. The object causing the pricking sensation was Naruto's sword, poised to skewer the young boy's body. Tsunami, upon seeing her son in such a position, cried out with horror. The only thing keeping Inari alive was the fact that Kakashi and Anko both had a firm grip on Naruto, stopping him from moving any farther. Still, Inari could feel a small amount of blood flowing from where the razor sharp sword had pierced the skin of his chest.

Anko, one hand on Naruto's shoulder, the other on his wrists, keeping the blade from going any further, tried to break through to her friend. "Naruto! He doesn't know. C'mon, put the sword down, you don't want to accidently kill him. C'mon, do it as a favor to me?" she whispered in his ear. A couple seconds later, Naruto relaxed, and allowed himself to be pulled away from Inari.

Looking at Inari, Naruto gave a growl of frustration and rage. Sakura looked furious with the way Naruto had acted, and opened her mouth to scold him, but was stopped when Naruto turned his gaze to her. The moment their eyes met, Sakura stopped moving, stopped breathing. She felt her heart quicken as pure terror swept through her body. She had felt the KI from Zabuza and Kakashi's battle, but this was unreal. It was as if he had become terror personified, and Sakura knew if every muscle in her body hadn't been clenched in fear, she would have needed a change of clothes.

Anko grabbed Naruto's chin and forced him to look at her, breaking whatever hold his eyes had on Sakura, and she collapsed in relief. "Naruto, I think it's best if you leave until you can calm down. We don't need you killing the clients and your teammates. Go work out your frustrations."

Naruto, who had noticeably calmed, nodded. Sheathing Hebi, he left the house, slamming the door on his way out. Anko let out a relieved sigh before looking down at Inari. "Your one lucky ass little kid, ya know that? Most civilians know better than to insult ninja, but normally things don't go that far. You just had the misfortune of saying exactly the wrong things to exactly the wrong person. You're lucky me and Kakashi were here, and that I was expecting that, or you'd have been dead."

Inari glared up at the older teenager. "He needs to get a grip. You don't attack somebody for telling the truth! I guess he just couldn't handle it."

Anko shook her head. It looked like she was going to have to give everybody a glimpse of Naruto's past. She knew he wouldn't like it, but that he would forgive her. She figured that if these people and his teammates knew about it, they'd be closer to understanding the vlonde enigma. "You don't get it . You say that none of us can understand suffering, but the way you were going on about it really pissed him off. Naruto can't stand people who use their suffering as an excuse to give up on life. He figures he didn't, so why should anybody else get too."

Inari sneered. "What does that blonde idiot know about real suffering?"

Anko was beginning to wonder if she and Kakashi should have let Naruto kill the brat. "A whole hell of a lot more than you do, that's for damn sure!" she bit out, the venom in her voice shocking Inari into silence. "Tell me kid, do you love your mom? Do you like living in this house? Do you like eating things that are at least marginally safe for human consumption? Well, answer me!"

Inari looked up at this woman and nodded his head. Anko's eyes were hard with anger, but there was something else in them as well. "Well guess what, Naruto never had any of that. He never had a mother who honestly cared for him. When he was three he was tossed out of the village orphanage and he lived on the streets for years, scrounging whatever food he could from garbage cans and the like. He finally got off the streets when he was set up with his own, very crappy, apartment by the Hokage. What's more, Naruto is something like the pariah of our village, he's hated by nearly the entire village. Do you know what happens when somebody who is hated is in a position of constant vulnerability? They get hurt, a lot. I met Naruto when he was ten, and he was still being kicked around by the populous of the village."

Here Anko took a breath to continue, her audience riveted by this glimpse at Naruto's life. "As it is, there aren't many people in the village that he truly cares about and is cared for by in return. Those people are me, the Hokage, Hinata Hyuuga, and Kiba, Hana, and Tsume Inuzuka. All of us are only in recent years. For the better part of a decade, Naruto was completely alone, without even the memories of his parents to help him through the night. Then it just escalated even further when he was eleven. It was also the last time anybody ever touched him from our village."

Sakura, recovered from her bout of terror, asked the question that was on everybody's mind. "Anko, what exactly happened when he was eleven?"

Here Anko's eyes softened, and took on a faraway look, as if she was dwelling in a particularly painful memory. "When Naruto was eleven, he was kidnapped and systematically tortured by ninja of the hidden leaf. He was betrayed by his own people, the people who are supposed to be his comrades."

Unbeknownst to all in the home, they had an uninvited guest who was memorizing every word said. Haku crouched in the shadows outside the home, under orders from Zabuza to gather whatever information he could on the team from Konoha. Hearing this most recent development, Haku began to listen even harder, the androgynous boy's eyes widening slightly.

Sakura's eyes were wide open, so wide in fact, that it appeared that they were in imminent danger of falling out. "Tor-tortured?" she stuttered incredulously, to which Anko could only nod her head sadly.

"Nobody knows the specifics of how it came to happen, or even why they did it. The only part that is common knowledge is the method of torture involved. Naruto's hands were nailed to a wall while his feet were nailed to the floor, the clothes cut from his upper body. He was force-fed an experimental drug that was designed to keep prisoners awake for days on end, and a genjutsu**(1)** placed on him that magnified whatever pain he felt exponentially. For three days they had him like that as they sliced into his chest, rubbing salt into the wounds. The scary part is that Naruto heals at a drastically faster pace than almost anybody else in the village, so fast in fact that it's almost impossible for him to scar. However, his torturers would let the cuts almost fully heal before cutting him again. Trust me, if you ever see his chest, you won't be able to tell the difference between the scar tissue on his chest and the regular skin, because he has so many scars piled one on top of the other on his chest." Anko explained, to the shock and horror of her audience.

Inari in particular seemed effected. "What happened then?"

Anko looked at him sadly. "Me and my friend, Hana Inuzuka, located him. He had been left for dead down in the sewers, still conscious, still aware of everything around him. When me and Hana found him, there was a message written in his blood on the wall, the exact contents of which are classified. After we got him to the hospital and the drugs neutralized, he slipped into a coma for three weeks. After he woke up, he couldn't use his arms. He had to undergo physical therapy to learn how to use them, as well as dozens of mental evaluations. He's still affected by it today, still has nightmares of the pain. However, as loathe as I am to say, there were some benefits to the experience. In battle, unless it's an instantly lethal blow, Naruto isn't even going to slow down, he genuinely can't feel pain anymore, not after that. As for the other benefit, well, Sakura just experienced that."

Sakura shuddered as she remembered that terror that had coursed through her with a mere look. It hadn't been KI, she was sure of that. "What did he do to me?"

Anko sighed. "It's a genjutsu, one of the only one's he can do since he developed it himself. It's a KI and rage driven attack, and trust me when I say that he has a lot of both. If it's maintained long enough, a persons heart can actually explode from terror."

Outside the home, his eyes wide at what he had just heard, Haku slipped away quietly, his wariness concerning the blonde only reinforced by all that he had just heard. Zabuza would definitely need to know this.

Arriving back at the hideout, Haku quickly made his way to Zabuza's bedside, the masked man instantly jerking awake. "Well, did you learn anything of value Haku?"

Haku quickly explained all that he had overheard before he began to give his own views on what they needed to do. "Zabuza-sama, concerning the blonde, this Naruto, I feel that I must once again advise extreme caution. With an experience as obviously painful as that one, it is obvious, and supported by his comrades, that he won't feel even the most painful of blows. I think that even if we landed a fatal blow, he would be able to power through it as if he'd never even been touched. Besides that, I find that I feel a certain kinship to him, and I believe that whatever effectiveness I would have in battle against him would be limited by these feelings. Besides all that, I still get the feeling that he will ultimately decide our fates if we cross him."

Zabuza looked at Haku. 'While Haku is normally a pacifist, it's never been this bad before. He really doesn't want to fight, but what the hell spooked him like that?' he thought.

Shaking his head, Zabuza leaned back. "I'm still thinking about it, but your right, that boy is troubling, and obviously skilled. When I'm fully healthy I'll decide our course of action."

Haku, despite his reservations, could only nod his head. It is in the nature of the tool to obey his master without question.

The following morning dawned crisp and cool, and Haku took full advantage of that as he walked calmly through the trees, gaining simple pleasure in the tranquil beauty around him. He seemed to radiate calmness and gentleness, so much so that a small bird fluttered onto his shoulder. He gave the daring little thing a soft smile as he continued to walk through the woods, looking for medicinal herbs to speed Zabuza's recovery. A short time later the bird flew off and Haku heard the distinct sound of steel slamming against steel. Curious, he made his way closer to the source of the sounds. Finding the source, he saw that it was the blonde leaf shinobi, Naruto.

He was shirtless and sparring with almost a hundred clones. For a moment Haku gaped at him, wondering at the amount of chakra the boy must have, and then he was caught up in watching the way he sparred. All the clones were paired up, with the original doubtless located somewhere in the mass, sparring one on one. Every fifteen seconds or so, the clones would switch off partners, moving on to a new opponent. The whole effect was that it appeared as if they were all conducting a complicated sort of dance. At some unseen signal, the clones started dispatching their opponents at exactly the same time, causing the number of clones to be cut in half every few seconds. After just under a minute there was only one clone and what Haku believed to be the original engaged in a high-speed dual.

Haku, having been trained by one of the Seven Swordsmen, was no stranger to seeing swords wielded in battle. The difference between Naruto's and Zabuza's style of fighting was easy to see. While Zabuza relied on the size of his blade and his strength to deal fatal blows, Naruto's style revolved around using his slight height and low center of gravity to move around quickly, dealing painful wounds with the precision of a surgeon.

With a flicker of the blade so fast that Haku barely even registered that it had happened, the final clone was dispatched, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto turned, presumably to retrieve his things, but froze when he caught sight of Haku. Haku, for his part, didn't hesitate, and immediately stepped into the clearing, but faltered when he saw the bared chest of the young ninja.

What he saw was horrible. He had been partially prepared for the sight by Anko's words the night before, but her words hadn't done it justice. From both shoulders down to just above his stomach extended a complex latticework of overlapping scars. Haku paled as he imagined the pain he must have been in, and then paled even further when he realized that he couldn't possibly imagine it, given that he had been influenced by genjutsu as well. When Naruto saw what Haku was looking at, he blushed lightly and hurried over to his things, quickly putting them on. Haku noticed that his legs buckled slightly when he pulled on his vest, before recovering easily. 'He wears weight? If he does, how much does he wear?' he wondered idly before he once again stepped forward.

"Hello, I'm sorry if I startled you, and I apologize for staring, it's just I've never seen someone so heavily scarred." Haku said by way of greeting.

Naruto gave a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his head. "Nah, it's all right. I know what it looks like, and it's pretty difficult to look away. I'm just surprised I didn't notice you. I guess if I want to live very long as a ninja I'll have to work on my awareness of my surroundings. My name is Naruto by the way."

Haku smiled. "I'm Haku. If you don't mind my asking, it must have been a very painful experience." he said, referring to the scars.

Naruto's eyes darkened. "More than you can possibly imagine. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if it was all just a dream, because the memories of the event are blurred, indistinct." he said his voice soft.

Haku was silent for a moment, contemplating what he had said. "Why did it happen?"

Naruto looked at him, before smiling slightly. "I suppose you could say it's a side effect of being the most hated person in the village, and befriending the second most hated person. Some people are just blinded by their emotions, and they struck out."

Haku nodded sadly. He knew that all too well, and it appeared that Naruto and his friend did as well. "So, if you're a ninja, you must be really strong, right?" he said in an effort to turn the conversation to brighter paths.

Naruto shrugged. "I suppose I am. I mean, I know I'm amongst the strongest in our generation, but I still need to get stronger, as well as smarter." he said, sitting with his back against a tree.

Haku sat in front of him, his legs to the side. "Why would you need to get stronger? From what I saw you must be plenty strong already." It was true. Haku had seen jonin who wouldn't have been able to keep up with the blonde's skill with the blade.

Naruto shook his head. "Not too long ago, two of the most important people in the world to me got hurt because of my stupidity and gullibility. I can't say that I'll protect them, because their shinobi and that would be an insult to their skill, but I can at least make it so I'm not a danger to them."

Haku nodded a look of understanding on his face. "You want to protect your precious people from yourself, but at the same time you respect their strength so much that you want them to stand on their own."

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "That's exactly it. Well, that, and because of Anko."

Haku's brow furrowed in confusion, while his mind was whirling. 'The Snake Mistress? What connection can the two of them have?'

He took a chance and voiced his question. "What's so special about this Anko?"

Naruto's eyes took on a faraway look. "What isn't special about her? She's the most beautiful woman in the world to me, always has been. She's funny, she's smart. As far as I'm concerned she's a goddess given human form. All of that really doesn't matter to me though. What matters is that she saved me."

Now Haku was really confused, but couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling of déjà vu. "How did she save you?"

Naruto kept staring into the distance, his mind obviously on faraway memories. "She became my first friend. Before her, I was so lonely. All that I ever got were these cold stares and beatings from everyone around me. Then she came, and she cared. To be honest, I've been in love with her since I met her. "Naruto took on a wistful air. "My greatest dream is to somehow earn her love in return. I long for nothing more."

Haku nodded in understanding, now knowing why he had felt a connection to the young shinobi. His situation with Anko was eerily similar to his and Zabuza's. "I think I know how you feel. When my parents died I'd never felt so alone, then my precious person came, and he gave me a reason to live. I love him as if he was my father, and I can't imagine life without him."

Naruto smiled at Haku encouragingly, and Haku smiled in return, bringing a faint blush to the boy's cheeks. "You fight to protect your precious people, and that's the way that a person becomes truly strong. I see you achieving all of your dreams one day, and I'm sure Anko already loves you as well."

Naruto stood, prompting Haku to stand as well. "Thanks for talking to me Haku. I suppose I needed that, as I had started to lose hope. I guess all I needed was a girl's perspective."

Haku couldn't help but grind his teeth at that. Was it really that hard to tell he was a boy? The fact that he was wearing a pink kimono never occurred to him. "You do know that I'm a boy right?"

Naruto blinked. "Really? Wow, I've heard the term pretty boy before, but this is just ridiculous."

Haku's eyebrow twitched but that was the extent of his irritation. "Well, I guess I should go. I wish you luck Naruto." he said as he left the clearing.

Naruto watched him go until he heard a familiar voice calling him. "Naruto!" Turning, he spotted Anko, standing with her hand on her hip. "Well gaki, are you coming or what? We have a job to do!"

Naruto smiled. "Coming Anko!" his eyes fixed on the figure of the woman he loved. 'Maybe Haku's right, and someday you'll look at me in the same way.' he thought as he hurried after the beautiful kunoichi.

**Hey people, Zekuran here. Just one thing to clear up in the above passage.**

**1: I feel that, While most genjutsu will dispel with pain, there has to be some genjutsu specifically designed to facilitate pain, if only to aid in interrogations. Makes sense to me at least.**


	9. The Cold Blade

**A.N. There are a few things in here that I thought of before I read them in others stories, so I would like to state to other authors out there that I am in no way trying to steal your ideas, I thought of these things before I read them in your stories, and by the time I did, were already part of the storyline.**

_Previously_

_ Naruto and company begin to settle in at Tazuna's, training themselves so that their prepared for Zabuza's return. While staying at Tazuna's, they meet Inari, Tazuna's not so charming grandson, as well as Tazuna's daughter Tsunami. Tsunami quickly endears herself to the Konoha ninja, especially Anko, while Inari loudly proclaims his hate towards them, making a mistake that almost cost him his life at Naruto's hands. Anko then reveals to all Naruto's worst experience at the hands of Konoha. Meanwhile, Naruto, while training in the woods, meets a nice boy by the name of Haku. Haku assures Naruto that he will become strong because he has precious people that he will do anything to protect._

Chapter Nine: The Cold Blade

Naruto sighed as he watched the masked boy across from him form an ice replica of the Kubikiri Honcho. 'That's one big sword, easily predictable. However, I shouldn't let my guard down; he is the apprentice of one of the Seven Swordsmen. That alone means he's got to be at least above average with a blade.' he thought, Hebi already in his hands as he settled into a crouch, Hebi held in front of him as he waited for his opponent to show an opening that wasn't a feint. Just behind him was the prone body of one Sasuke Uchiha, needles sticking from various parts of his body, evidence of the skill and incredible accuracy of the nin in front of him, as well as a warning to stay on his guard, as the nin seemed to be able to form needles made of ice on the fly. Naruto sighed again as he wondered why these things always happened to him, as well as wondering if he was being infected by Shikamaru somehow, as he could only apply the term troublesome to his situation. The day had been so good so far too, well, good for him.

_Flashback_

_ "What the hell do you mean I'm staying behind?" Anko snarled, obviously not happy, a fact made even more obvious from the way she kept slipping a kunai into her hand, then back up her sleeve._

_ Kakashi, for his part, was rapidly paling as he looked at the enraged Snake Mistress. Her superior in skill or not, one did not antagonize Anko Mitarashi unless one wanted to find out how long they could retaining their sanity, as well as manhood. Kakashi's mind went into hyper drive as he desperately sought a way for him to escape this encounter intact. Suddenly, like the proverbial light bulb had switched on over his head, he was struck by inspiration. "It was all Naruto's idea!" he cried, pointing at the blonde gennin who was waiting patiently on the porch for Kakashi. _

_ Anko's eyes widened as she turned towards Naruto, her anger fading slightly. 'Naruto wasn't really happy that I told them about his past, but would he actually be angry enough to recommend I stay behind?' she wondered for a moment, before violently shaking her head. She knew Naruto would never be so petty. Walking over to her younger friend, she looked him up and down. "Well gaki, do you actually have a reason for wanting me to stay behind?" she asked, somehow managing to pull off apologetic and demanding at the same time._

_ Naruto looked at the beautiful form of his best friend and cursed Kakashi to the depths of hell. Anko was one of those women that was hard to get any actually anger out of, as long as the irritant wasn't Orochimaru related, and she was absolutely stunning when she was angry. He'd been enjoying the show. He wasn't even sure Anko knew it, but her right ear had a tendency to quiver when she was mad, not much, but it did, and he found it absolutely adorable. "Anko, you're used to solo-assassinations and grand demolition missions, which are the most dangerous and best suited for you skills so it's understandable that you're out of practice when it comes to protection. Pretend for a moment that you're a little man with little to no morals and nothing really stopping you from involving innocents, in fact, you'd probably do it for your own amusement. In this situation, presented with unforeseen difficulties, what would you do?"_

_ Anko thought for a moment, before narrowing her eyes and looking at Tazuna's home. "You think Gato would try to strike against Tazuna's family?"_

_ Naruto shook his head. "Not try, will. As far as I'm concerned, if he doesn't he's mentally challenged, with absolutely no concept of strategy. Considering he made his shipping industry one of the largest in the world using more than just the illegal ways, we know he's not going to pass up such a golden opportunity. Frankly, without protection, this place is the softest target imaginable. Just one bandit hired by Gato would be too much for Inari and Tsunami to overcome."_

_ Anko visibly pouted, sticking out her lower lip as she moaned loudly, which made Naruto want to burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. "But I'm gonna be so bored!" she whined, once again making Naruto doubt the fact that she was actually any older than him at all._

_ Shaking his head, Naruto thought for a moment, before he grinned. "I'm surprised you haven't thought of this one Anko. Like I said, when, not if, some hired thugs try to make trouble around here, well, there's some free entertainment for you. Besides which, there's a present waiting for you at the end of today anyway, so all you have to do is be patient for the rest of the day."_

_ Anko was immediately all ears, almost visibly quivering with excitement as she thought of what Naruto might have gotten her. "Well, why don't you tell me what you got me, and then I'll be more patient if I know it's worth the wait."_

_ In reply, Naruto pulled a scroll from inside his vest. Opening it, he unsealed another scroll before placing the first back where it had come from. Handing her the second scroll, which was far larger than the first, he gestured for her to open it, which she did. Inside she found a drawing detailing the design, as well as the application, of a seal of some sort, something called the __**Tengoku No Mon Fuin(near as I can tell, Heavenly Gates Seal)**__. Anko looked from the scroll to her friend, a questioning, as well as uneasy, look in her eyes. While she knew she could trust Naruto with her life, she was understandably wary of seals, as it was one that had ruined her life. Seeing the question in her eyes, Naruto sighed before he began explaining. "Okay, here we go Anko, try to keep up. I arguably know more about the Curse seal than any other person out there, with the notable exception of Orochimaru, as well as perhaps Jiraiya of the Sannin. From what I can tell, it is a masterful creation that truly attaches itself to all four aspects of your being, those aspects being mind, body, soul, and chakra network. Your seal is in part, still dormant, meaning it's far easier to manipulate. What that fuinjutsu does is shut down completely the mind aspect of the curse mark. At the very least, you should be able to think more clearly."_

_ Anko nodded as he explained it to her. While she was quite capable of thinking clearly, she often had nightmares, and was unsure if those were just her or the influence of the seal attempting to weaken her mind as was believed by Jiraiya. Looking at the __**Tengoku no Mon, **__Anko gave Naruto an appreciative grin. Trust the blonde knucklehead to do what an accredited seal master thought to be impossible. Of course, Anko doubted the man had ever thought of shutting the curse mark down one piece at a time._

_ Naruto smiled at the look on Anko's face, before he continued his explanation. "Now, because it's completely untested, I don't know how long it will last, so it could be effective for as little as two days to as long as two decades, there's really no way to be sure. As you can see, for a seal of its power, the application is easily done in such a way as to preserve your modesty should you desire it. Of course, should you not desire it, I won't mind at all, as I'll be the one applying the seal." Here Naruto broke off, his head snapped back from the force of the casual punch Anko had landed on him. Resettling himself, he mentally shrugged. He had known she was going to do that, but it was fun to needle Anko. "Anyway, the rest of the seal is going to be nearly impossible to completely remove or shut down, as the rest appears to need to be shut down almost simultaneously, which is completely impossible at this point. Don't worry though, I'll find a way. I mean, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I always find a way to do the impossible."_

_ Anko nodded again, her mouth stretched into a grin far too wide to allow talking. Waving to her, Naruto joined the rest of his team and Tazuna as they began to walk toward the bridge before he turned around with a Cheshire grin on his face. "By the way, remind me when I get back and I'll tell you about the present waiting for you in Konoha!" That said, the whisker marked boy and his team, as well as the old man they were guarding, turned round a bend and disappeared from sight._

End flashback

Naruto was drawn from his musings as the faux hunter-nin seemed to have completed his ice-blade, and looked ready to charge. Lowering himself into the opening stance for his kenjutsu style, right foot well forward, with the left one further back a pointed to the left, with Hebi held in a two-handed grip parallel to the ground and down by his knee, Naruto waited for the hunter-nin to make the first move, and as he settled into his own stance, the hunter-nin seemed content to do the same. Naruto wasn't taking any chances though. This opponent, much like Naruto himself, wasn't afraid to take risks, something that his conduct in the battle thus far had made quite clear.

Flashback

_When the group had arrived at the bridge, they had been surprised to find it deserted, and covered in a thick mist. At the center of it stood two figures that they knew, Zabuza Momochi, and his hunter-nin accomplice._

_ "Well, it took you long enough to get here Kakashi. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever come. What do you say me and you finish what we started, only this time, nobody else is going to interfere." Zabuza called out, the sound carrying to the Konoha ninja clearly. Slightly turning his head, he whispered some orders to his comrade. While the others couldn't hear it, Naruto could, and what he heard made his blood run cold._

_ Stepping forward, Kakashi assessed the situation. He didn't know the capabilities of the hunter-nin, but he knew that they probably far exceeded Sakura's, the obvious weakest on his team. While the girl had made massive strides since the academy had ended, she was only now on the same physical level as a recently graduated student. He had been so busy concentrating on getting her up to speed that he had neglected the other two, but he knew the two of them were pretty equal, up until the moment Naruto drew his sword, whereupon Kakashi himself almost had to reveal his eye to keep up with him. Thinking quickly, he began to issue his orders. "Naruto, stay back here and guard Tazuna, with Sakura as your support, Sasuke, you take the hunter-nin. I'll keep Zabuza occupied. Naruto, Sakura, keep Tazuna here if you can. If you try to remove him from the area, Zabuza and his accomplice will probably follow you, and this'll turn into a running battle that will make it next to impossible to protect him."_

_ Orders issued, he was about to rush at Zabuza before Naruto's voice made him pause. "What if either you or Sasuke begin to lose your battle?"_

_ Naruto could hear the trust and confidence in Kakashi's voice when he replied. "I'll leave that up to your discretion Naruto. I'm sure you'll have a plan." As soon as he said that, Sasuke and he went to attack their respective opponents, and the mist became so thick that visibility was limited to a few feet of the surrounding area. With Hebi in his hand, Naruto closed his eyes, immersing himself in what he called the Flow, and he knew… everything. He knew where every blow would be launched from before it was thrown, how the target would dodge, the follow-up attacks, everything. It was a state of hyper-awareness that he had discovered by accident while he was recovering from the torture that had robbed him of more than everybody else realized. What nobody, not even Anko knew, was that he couldn't just not feel pain. He couldn't feel pleasure either. The three men who had tortured him had taken far more than his dignity. They had stolen his sense of touch entirely._

_ At the time, he had been desperate for any way to function normally, as shinobi relied upon touch for any number of small things that, while not individually important, made a huge difference in the long-run. He had found the Flow then, and as best as he could describe it, it was the heartbeat of the universe, to which everything moved in response. While immersed in it, Naruto was fairly sure that his spatial awareness challenged even a Hyuga's, but it was also more than just being aware of what was going on. It was impossible to truly describe, but it was almost as if HE was the one making the movement. Within the Flow, he knew everything around him. Within the Flow, he was dramatically more powerful._

_ When a large explosion of light could be seen through the mist, Sakura started to jump and cheer, which Naruto immediately headed off. "Sakura, act like a professional kunoichi now, and a fan-girl on your own time!"_

_ Suitably chastened, Sakura immediately settled back into the academy standard combat stance, her face focused. "How do you know it's not over?" she asked, not letting up on her observation for a moment._

_ Naruto, his stance seemingly lazy compared to Sakura's, shrugged. "Trust me, I just know. Besides, even if that had ended Sasuke's fight, there's still Kakashi-sensei to worry about." Kakashi's fight was going strangely, as Kakashi was apparently almost totally blind, and was unable to see Zabuza until it was almost too late to react, and Sasuke was having trouble of his own, as the hunter-nin seemed to have somehow achieved an incredible speed boost, which Naruto was hard-pressed to explain._

_ A few more minutes passed before Naruto knew he would have to intervene, or risk the death of his teammate."Sakura, get Tazuna as far away from the action as you can, but be very cautious. Move to fast, and one of those two is bound to notice. Pausing just long enough to make sure the pinkette understood, Naruto moved silently through the mist toward Sasuke's and the hunter-nin's battle. Behind him, Sakura began to move Tazuna further from the conflict. Tazuna couldn't help but be both faintly worried, as well as understanding. Worried because of the two designated to protect him, he had just lost the strongest, and understanding because these ninja were placing their lives on the line for him, and might die for his sake._

_ Arriving at the site of Sasuke's battle, Naruto couldn't help but be baffled by what he saw. There, in front of him, was a large formation of mirrors seemingly made out of ice, with Sasuke about to collapse at their center. Shaking his head, Naruto prepared a jutsu that would definitely save the super emo's life._

_ In a puff of smoke, Naruto kwarimied with Sasuke just in time to have his body riddled with senbon that were again made out of ice. Outside the mirrors, Sasuke almost hit his knees before he caught himself, taking deep breaths as he realized that he now owed his life to his team-mate._

_ Still immersed in the Flow, Naruto knew the exact placement of every needle, but without a true sense of touch, he was able to move unimpeded. Flashing through several hand-signs, he muttered the name of the jutsu that would allow him to escape the dome of mirrors._

_ Within the mirrors, Haku watched with shock as Naruto made several hand-signs before he sank into the ground with a muttered "__**Mougogakure No Jutsu(hiding like a mole technique, I believe).**__" Evidently Naruto truly was immune to pain, as he didn't even wince when the senbon sank into his body. Watching Naruto reemerge outside the mirrors, Haku gave a weary sigh as he dissolved his technique and touched to the ground facing the two Konoha genin. Looking at Naruto, Haku was unsure if he would be able to attain victory this day, and the other one was still conscious, and therefore, still a threat. Hurriedly coming up with a plan, Haku made a bold move and sacrificed half of his remaining chakra to create six Mizu Bunshin, which then charged Naruto in a suicidal manner. They were quickly disposed of, but not before a pair of ice senbon found their way into the defenseless Sasuke's neck._

End flashback

From his place within the flow, Naruto knew that Sasuke, contrary to his appearance, was not dead, but instead hovered firmly on the cusp. He directed all of his obvious attention towards the hunter-nin, and could feel his opponent doing the same. Suddenly, within the same instant, they both exploded into furious motion, seemingly disappearing before the naked eye, then meeting with a crash, then disappearing again. Their speed, while not unheard of within the shinobi world, was still frightening for their age.

While they seemed to have disappeared to everyone else, their states of hyper-sensitivity meant everything was moving in seemingly slow motion to the two of them. Haku, for his part, was quickly becoming unnerved with Naruto's fighting style. Naruto had yet to so much as glance his way. He merely seemed to be looking at the ground with a thousand-yard stare. What was more worrying was Naruto's kenjutsu style was much too fast for a zanbatou wielded by any but a master to have a chance of hitting him. He had already tried surprising him with his senbon, but Naruto's strange sword would just spit a kunai at them, the heavier weapon easily knocking aside the lightweight needle.

Coming together, Haku began to move the zanbatou at insane speeds, attempting to overwhelm his smaller opponent with the furious onslaught, but Naruto, as if he had predicted Haku's plan, opted for a course of total avoidance, saving his muscles and his sword the strain of deflecting the much heavier blade. As the fight wore one, for first three minutes, then five minutes, and then ten minutes, without Naruto ever looking up, just maintaining his position, Haku felt something he hadn't felt in quite some time: mindless terror. He felt the terror of facing a foe that seemed to know his every move before he made it, and had the perfect counter for it.

Naruto was beginning to tire. His hold on the Flow was starting to falter. He made a mental note to practice with it more when he got back to Konoha. When the hunter-nin attempted a massive overhand blow, Naruto dodged, allowing it to collide with the ground before he flashed forward, attempting to land an obviously fatal blow to the boy's shoulder, but his enemy had already yanked the blade from the ground and blocked it.

Ducking, the whiskered blonde whirled, batting away the zanbatou before trying to slash his opponents legs, but was once again foiled, this time by the long handle of his enemy's sword. Without missing a beat, Naruto set himself, then sprang up, using the not unimpressive strength of his legs to drive his elbow into the hunter-nin's mask, lifting the opposing boy off his feet and sending him flying.

Haku scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could, brandishing his zanbatou as he did. 'This battle is heavily in his favor.' He thought. 'He has me countered almost perfectly, and I was already exhausted when he intervened in the fight. I will fall today. For Zabuza-sama's sake, I cannot fail to take him with me.' With that thought in mind, Haku did as his clones had before him, and threw himself in a suicidal rush at his opponent.

Tazuna's Home

The sound of maniacal giggling could be heard from outside the house. Naruto had been spot on with his prediction, as two ronin had shown up to take Tsunami with them on the orders of Gato. Anko was currently feeling a great deal of pleasure as she introduced the two thugs to her art and their screams of agony were like music to her ears. Inside the home, Tsunami held Inari close to her, covering his ears so he couldn't hear the chilling screams that she knew would haunt her nightmares for years to come. She couldn't help but wonder what would drive somebody as nice as Anko to take so much pleasure in the pain of others, or if the whole thing wasn't an act that she had somehow become stuck in, and couldn't break out of. Outside, Anko halted as an icy shiver raced down her spine, and she turned worried eyes in the direction of the bridge. Making a snap-decision, she permanently silenced the two idiots who thought they could match a shinobi of her caliber, then summoned several snakes, giving them orders to guard Tazuna's family from any threats, then set out for the bridge. The last time she had had that feeling, Naruto had been tortured into a coma, and this time she was going to stop anything from happening to her friend.

Tazuna's Bridge

Blood dripped onto the bride from several lacerations on Naruto's forearms. When the hunter-nin had thrown himself forward, Naruto knew that there was going to be no way to dodge the coming attack, and waiting until the last moment, he had thrown his arms in front of his face just in time for them to receive the majority of the shrapnel that had come from said hunter-nin's zanbatou exploding, which had been his plan all along. His vest's tough material had absorbed the rest of the punishment that had headed his way, and while he was injured, the amount of blood loss was inconsequential , and since he couldn't feel anything, the wounds were in no way affecting his ability to move.

The hunter-nin too had taken a small amount of shrapnel, but was also non-fatally wounded. Rushing in, Naruto, grabbed the still woozy hunter-nin by the back of the neck, yanking his face down into a fast rising knee. The distinctive crunch of a nose breaking badly could be heard from behind the mask. Letting the unsteady boy go, Naruto spun, delivering an absolutely vicious kick to his opponent's ribs, feeling at least two of them give before the hunter-nin was once again airborne. Temporarily incapacitated, the hunter-nin could do nothing as he hit the ground, the arm he had landed on popping out of its socket, making the teenage boy howl in agony.

Walking over to his downed opponent, Naruto rolled him onto his back before removing his mask. Naruto closed his eyes. He had hoped that he hadn't heard Zabuza right, but his fears had been realized. Zabuza's accomplice was none other than Haku, the boy he had made a distinct connection with in the forest.

From his position on the ground, Haku looked up at Naruto's saddened face, and a pained smile spread across his face. "While it pains me to lose, and fail Zabuza-sama, I must say that you are indeed very strong Naruto. I'm glad that one of us will still be alive to protect their precious person when today is over."

Releasing his hold on the Flow, Naruto sagged slightly. While not physically exhausting, immersing yourself in the Flow was like no other mental exercise in existence. "Yesterday, when you were talking about precious people, you were talking about Zabuza, weren't you? The only thing I can't understand is why him?"

Haku smiled again. "I ask you, why not him? He saved me from dying on the streets, alone and unwanted by anybody. Not even my father wanted me, as was proven by his attempted filicide, all because of the cursed blood that runs in my veins."

Naruto was momentarily thrown by Haku's words. As the sounds of Kakashi's and Zabuza's battle increased in intensity, he and Haku were in their own world. "What do you mean by 'cursed blood'?"

"There are some ninja clans that, through generations of specializing in a certain field, develop abilities in that area that are far stronger than anything that other shinobi can ever hope to duplicate. These abilities are called Kekkei Genkai, bloodline limits, as I'm sure you already know, having the last of the Uchiha on your team. However, what you don't know, is that in Kiri, bloodline holders are hunted down, and slaughtered like dogs." Here Haku paused for a breathe, wincing as his ribcage was forced to expand, aggravating the injuries that he had taken to it.

"I first discovered that I was a holder of one of these despised bloodlines when I was four, still an innocent child. I remember being so happy that I could do something so special, and I showed my mother, expecting praise. I remember the raw terror in her eyes, and how frantic she was as she made me promise to never do it again, which I almost immediately agreed to. I was a little boy who loved his mother, and I would cast aside any new toy for her sake, because that was all it was to me at the time. Unfortunately, I had already been observed." Again he paused, this time to cough, and spit out some blood.

"My father's hatred of the bloodlines far exceeded the love he had for my mother and me. When he saw me utilizing what could only be a bloodline, he killed my mother. For nothing more than our lineage, he murdered my mother, his wife, then he came for me. My emotions were surging, I was completely terrified, unable to understand why my mother wasn't moving, why there was so much blood all over her, or what my father was so angry about. When he tried to kill me, my bloodline activated in a brutal manner, killing my father almost immediately." Here, a single, solitary tear wound its way down Haku's face, before he gathered himself to continue.

"Everything after that blurred together. I can't truly remember how long I wandered, but I do remember the gnawing pain in my heart as I was completely alone, and the knowledge that if any around me realized what I had, they would kill me for the simple crime of being born. That was when he found me. Zabuza-sama saw me, and had a use for me. At first he thought I was just a normal street brat that he could train as his weapon, but when he discovered my abilities, he was overjoyed, and I was simply happy that he still wanted me, still had a use for me. Zabuza-sama may have a bloodthirsty reputation, but so do all powerful shinobi. Kakashi Hatake did not get his fame simply because of his eye; he earned it because he used that eye to kill others. Anko as well founded her reputation on the blood of others. To be a shinobi is a bloody business, and hundreds of us die during times of peace, to lie forgotten by their village because they're not worth going to war over. Because he saved me from my pain and a lingering death by cold or hunger, I will give everything that I am to him." This last Haku said with a determined look on his bloody face.

Slightly taken aback by the other boy's heartfelt words, Naruto could feel his heart reaching out to him, and he couldn't help but see the similarities between the two of them. His thoughts turned to how much better off than Haku he was as he thought of those that he cared about, and was cared for by in return. Tsume Inuzuka, who, while rough around the edges, was so within her element as a mother that she had been like a mother to him for the two years he had known her. Her daughter Hana treated him like she did Kiba, and recently Naruto had found himself thinking of her as an older sister who he could go to for advice, or simply to talk and share jokes with. Hinata, the girl who had idolized him at first, but had now become a good friend, Kiba, the boy who had probably been the first guy friend he had ever had, and had led him to the Inuzuka family, and most importantly, Anko. She had saved him from having to fake every smile, from having to lie to everyone around him. In many ways, she had hand-crafted what he was today, and whatever successes he had in the future would ultimately be owed to her.

Smiling as he thought of his precious people, Naruto nodded his head. "I know exactly how you feel. For those who saved us, we who were abandoned and doomed to be forgotten, they own us in ways that can never truly be understood by others, don't they?"

While the two adolescents had been talking, Kakashi's battle with Zabuza had worn on, with Kakashi allowing himself to be injured for the sake of his plan. When Kakashi's summoned dog pack burst from the ground and sank their fangs into Zabuza, holding the man in place, he breathed a quick sigh of relief, before he flashed through the hand-signs for his one original jutsu. Zabuza, temporarily unable to move, slacked the flow of chakra to the mist, clearing much of it away so that he could see whatever Kakashi was doing. What he saw was Kakashi rushing at him, holding what could only be described as raw lightning. Zabuza's eyed widened as he beheld the jutsu that was as famous as Kakashi was, the jutsu that was believed to one of the best ones ever designed for assassination: the **Chidori. (Thousand birds I think)**

Anko sighed in relief. She was almost to the bridge. She wasn't sure what she would find, or even if anything was wrong, but being a kunoichi had taught her that it was always better safe than sorry.

With Kakashi mere feet away, Zabuza steeled himself. He would greet death without fear. Kakashi's hand shot out, an electrical snapping following it, there was a blur of motion, followed by a warm splash of blood.

Anko stood in total disbelief, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. There stood Kakashi, his body frozen in shock, because there, with Kakashi's hand buried in his side, stood a vest-less Naruto.

Flashback

_Naruto and Haku had their conversation interrupted by the sound of electrical chirping, and they both looked up to find that the mist had thinned, and they could see Kakashi running towards an immobile Zabuza, his hand covered in a lightning element jutsu. Haku began to struggle, his eyes filling with tears as he realized he would be forced to see his most precious person die in front of him. _

_ Seeing Haku's plight, Naruto stood, throwing his vest to the side, where it landed with a crash, cracks spreading from the point of impact, and he sprinted to intercept his sensei._

End flashback

Blood dripped onto the bridge at a rapid tempo as Naruto began to shiver. His inhuman stamina, combined with his inability to feel and incredible healing rate made him easily able to stand to blows that would kill most people and continue fighting, but even he had limits, limits he realized he had reached when Kakashi's hand plunged into his side, where he had used Hebi to deflect it to. Despite the fact that he was almost certainly out of this fight, Naruto couldn't help but marvel internally at the power of Kakashi's jutsu. Hebi had a constant kage's worth of chakra reinforcing the blade, making it all but unbreakable, but for the split second the blade had been in contact with his sensei's attack, the chakra level had plummeted to what Naruto could only assume was the chakra level of the average genin.

Kakashi's eyes were wide with disbelief and shame, and they weren't the only ones. Everybody else on the bridge was looking at the seemingly crazed blonde with the same expression, and they all had the same thought racing through their heads, and that was 'Why?'

Behind the young Konoha ninja, Zabuza began to rip himself free of the dogs, and seeing this, Kakashi grabbed Naruto and leapt away, depositing his thankfully still living student next to the defeated hunter-nin before returning to face Zabuza. When he reached there, he felt a presence at his side. Turning his head, he saw that Anko had joined the fight, and she looked furious. Gulping, Kakashi hoped it wasn't him she was angry at, but when she flicked her eyes over to him, all hope vanished. She _was _angry with him, as well as everybody else on the bridge, Naruto included. Sighing internally, Kakashi decided that he may actually deserve the feminine beating he was sure to receive after the battle. He found himself actually feeling sorry for Zabuza. The missing-nin wasn't going to know what hit him.

Haku looked over at Naruto, unable to understand why he had done it, why he had purposefully injured himself to save Zabuza.

Naruto stared back at Haku, who had managed to get himself into a sitting position, then answered the unasked question. "I did it because I couldn't allow somebody who was like me to lose their precious person, not if I could do anything to stop it."

Haku nodded in understanding. Empathy was a powerful thing, and it could shape the way a person thought and acted in ways others simply couldn't understand.

Over by the three elder shinobi, none of them had begun to move, and Zabuza was thinking as fast as he could. On one hand, he was alive. On another, he was now facing Kakashi Hatake and a fresh Anko Mitarashi, and it would be generous to say he was at half of his normal battle effectiveness. On yet another, he had been saved by an enemy, and to make it worse, it was an enemy swordsman. His own honor now demanded he repay the life debt in some way, and it was with that thought that he realized there was a way out that would get him and Haku out alive, as well as pay his debt at least in part. "This mission is over." he spat out, lowering his blade, much to Kakashi's and Anko's shock.

Reversing his blade, he slammed the tip into the ground, then sank to his knees, an obvious form of surrender. Kakashi was shocked at Zabuza's actions, but looking back at his student and Zabuza's, he could understand. Nodding his head, he was about to accept the surrender of the Demon of the Bloody mist, when a rhythmic clapping began to sound across the bridge.

The mist fully cleared, no longer held there by Zabuza's jutsu, to reveal a small man in a suit, with nearly a hundred men standing behind him. "Well, well, well." The small man started in a smug tone. "I see now that tales of your prowess are greatly exaggerated Zabuza. Your just a little baby demon that's lost his mommy. Oh well, it's not like it actually matters. You would have been dead by the end of the day anyway." The little man, who Kakashi and the others could only assume was Gato, stated.

Zabuza's eyes widened as the implications of that statement set in. "You were planning to betray me!" He growled out, enraged at the thought. After all, for a missing-nin, if you couldn't trust the employer, who could you trust?

"You make it sound so personal Zabuza. Really though, it's just about saving myself some money. All these men here," he gestured at the force behind him, "came at half the price you demanded, so, like I said, it's nothing personal." Looking over the ninja, he grinned, and Sakura and Anko felt a shiver of disgust run down their backs when they saw the look in his eyes. "Pink hair? How exotic. She'd probably fetch a good price on the market. As for the other one, boys, whoever brings me her gets triple pay." Gato said, pointing at Anko.

Anko wasn't very worried. Men leered at her all the time, and if worst came to worst, she could just summon one of her larger snakes to take care of any problems she had, but she had forgotten that her over-protective best friend was there as well. The same best friend who had managed to ruin almost every date she had had in the last three years, convinced they were just trying to use her, which she usually ended up thanking him for after she beat him into unconsciousness. The same best friend that had stood up, shaking with rage, the moment the words had left Gato's mouth, and was now stumbling closer to the man.

His hand was pressed to his wounded side, slowing the bleeding that was still occurring, and he was breathing heavily as he moved. "Gato." He spoke, his quit voice effortlessly attracting the undivided attention of everybody on the bridge. "I was already planning on killing you, and I had hoped to do it myself, but circumstances have prevented that. For what you just said, I'm going to do something even worse." Taking his blood covered hand away from his side, he flashed through a series of hand signs that three others on the bridge knew intimately. "** Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**" He cried as he slammed his hand onto the ground, before he was obscured in a large puff of smoke.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed Naruto kneeling on the bridge, with a massive silver and black fox roughly twice the size of horse. It was only the paws, ear tips, and the tip of its tail that were black, the rest was a beautiful, lustrous silver. "Everybody , it is my pleasure to introduce you to Hyogamaru, the boss summon of the fox contract." Naruto declared proudly, remembering the previous evening, when he had met the magnificent creature.

Flashback

_ The smoke cleared away, and Naruto couldn't help but gape at the size of the fox before him. He could only hope it was friendly. Those teeth were as long as his pointer finger, and the claws were even longer, and looked very sharp. _ _Said fox gazed around for a moment, before it locked eyes with Naruto. __**"I assume since there is nobody else around, you are the current holder of the fox contract?"**__ it asked, tilting its head._

_ Currently robbed of his ability to speak, Naruto nodded his head. The giant fox looked him over carefully, and Naruto stood very still. He was confident in his abilities, but he really didn't want to irritate anything that was this much bigger than he was. Finally, the fox gave a long-suffering sigh. __**"I suppose that you will have to do. Truthfully, I was hoping you would be somebody far more imposing, but beggars can't be choosers. Child, my name is Hyogamaru, and I hereby lay a charge upon you. You will be given free reign over all the foxes of this contract, and in return, you will make the world fear and respect the fox contract."**__ The now identified Hyogamaru said. __**"Do we have an accord?"**_

_ Naruto was left with no other option than to agree._

End flashback

Naruto looked back at the giant silver fox. "Hyogamaru, I have a job for you. It seems only right that the boss fox be used in the first real battle since I signed the contract. Do you see those men?" he asked, pointing at the mercenaries. "you can do whatever you like with them, as long as you bring me the small one." He finished, pointing at Gato, who was now beginning to doubt his chances. His men were muttering to themselves, and shifting uneasily. Fighting against shinobi was bad enough, but the fox looked big enough to literally bite a man in half.

Hyogamaru looked over at the expected opposition, before what could only be some form of grin stretched across his face, revealing that his mouth was filled with very large, very sharp teeth, the type of teeth that made cutthroat shinobi uneasy, and had the effect of causing a few of the mercenaries to wet themselves. **"Well, I must say, I am pleasantly surprised, to be summoned for battle so soon after we set the terms of our agreement. This will make for a fine showing, and will be entertaining for me as well." **That said, the massive Kitsune leapt at the mercenaries. To their credit, the mercenaries didn't immediately run, and tried to fight Hyogamaru off, but every swipe of a claw, every snap of its jaws, were costing men their lives. Even its tail, as fluffy looking as it was, was deadly., as the fox used the giant appendage like a battering ram, sending men flying. Half of the men treated this way never rose again, as the strength of the blows had crushed certain things of human anatomy that were necessary to life, like skulls, ribcages, and windpipes. Truthfully, the only way to really describe the scene was as a bloodbath. At the end, Hyogamaru walked over to the still kneeling Naruto with Gato cradled in his jaws, before depositing the man, completely unharmed, in front of him. With a nod of acknowledgement, Hyogamaru puffed away.

Grinning, Naruto looked over at Anko. "Hey, Anko-chan, do you like your surprise present?"

Anko, who thus far had shifted from rage at Naruto getting himself hurt, to disgust at Gato's comment, then to awed at the magnificence of the fox Naruto had summoned and the subsequent slaughter, now shifted to a twistedly delighted smirk. "Why thank you gaki, I absolutely love it, and I can't with to take my time to break it."

Naruto's grin widened even further. "That's…good." He said, before a combination of mental exhaustion and blood loss finally took their toll and his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell into unconsciousness.


	10. Update Pending

**I'm almost back people. I am sorry for my silence in the last five months, as I have been undertaking the extraordinarily exhausting task of joining the U.S. military. I still have another two months before my training is complete, and in that time, I will be undertaking a complete rewrite of every story currently online.**

**For The Ice Lord and The Silver Wolf**

**I will be predominantly fleshing this story out, adding detail and character thought processes where possible, but expect no major changes to the set storyline.**

**I may also add a few more arrancar, as there are a few whose deaths were ambiguous.**

**For The Rogue Romance**

**Expect major revisions to early chapters, as well as some fleshing out of Zeke. There will also be more character interactions.**

**For The Sealed Blade Of The Spiral Ninja**

**While in basic, I continued to construct and alter this world, and the end result doesn't match-up with the beginning. Fleshing out of the storyline, as always, with a flashback arc taking place between graduation and wave explaining some of Naruto's past and how he thinks and differs from cannon Naruto. **

_**Upcoming stories**_

**These are just random plot bunnies that stampede though and appear interesting enough.**

**The God of the Blade and The Ice Maiden**

**Category: Miscellaneous**

**Rating: M**

**Is a lemon scene between two oc's that I wrote on a dare from a friend, which then received stellar reviews from the rest of my class.**

**The Hell Swan**

**Category: Anime/Manga-Naruto**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: When the Akatsuki came for her, Fu, the Nanabi jinchurriki, gave up without a fight, preferring death to the continued misery of her empty existence. What would have happened had somebody truly cared for her? Would the Nanabi jinchurriki have been able to carve her own legend? Fu/OC, Anko/Zabu, femNaru Natsuki/Haku.**

**Titles for upcoming stories are not official, and are subject to change.**


	11. AN

**I've posted The Sealed Blade of the Spiral Ninja's rewrite under the title of Rage of The Maelstrom. This time, everything major is planned out, and the changes to Naruto's personality take place far earlier than they did in the Sealed Blade, making for a far more realistic scenario I believe. I've also changed Naruto's ever-generic dream, and did a better job of explaining Anko's age. Take a look and tell me what you think. Also, somebody, anybody, read and review Serene Angel. Its hastily written and riddled with mistakes I'm sure, but I would like it if somebody told me how I handle intimate romance!**


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